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         The Forestry Forum:

This is an open forum for forestry issues of interest  or that  serve to bring dialog forward regarding forestry today.  

Send in e-mails or entire articles.  Please be civil.

 Each month we will have a new article,  this month see below:

 "The Desertification of Southern Oregon"

 

Click on the links below for past articles:

viewout.jpg

The Desertification of Southern Oregon

Notes on the effect of excessive logging on a small watershed

by j.a. Kendrick

 

Our forest farm is situated astraddle a narrow box canyon in the rugged Siskyou Mountains of Southern Oregon and sits less than a mile downstream from the headwaters of the creek that flows down our little canyon towards the mighty Rogue River. Our watershed covers about 400 acres of what used to be heavily forested steep terrain. When we first bought our land nearly a quarter century ago, we were shocked to see the clearcut logging that had occurred in the 1970’s on the National Forest land around us. It was like walking into a moonscape when you stepped from under the tall forest of the canyon onto the denuded upper slope of the clearcut National Forest land. Although we could see that creek flows had been severely impacted by this logging where its headwaters lay, the creek ran year-round and provided spawning grounds for steelhead, a consistent source of fresh water for many species of wildlife and a steady supply of water for our water right. In Southern Oregon, water is life and our creek brought life to this beautiful green canyon whose slopes were densely populated with large Firs, Cedars and Sugar Pines interspersed with huge Oaks and Madrones that hadn’t seen heavy logging since the late 1920’s. It was our Eden and we worked hard over the years to improve and protect the riparian area along the creek, the wetland areas created by the many springs, and the health of our forest.

 

But we soon had a rude awakening when one of the three upstream private properties was purchased and heavily logged by timber speculators, leaving one face of the canyon denuded and damaged from running heavy equipment to drag the logs out. A slope that was once a shaded garden of ferns, vine maple, dogwoods and a plethora of native shrubs fed by numerous springs was left bare to scorch in the hot sun of Southern Oregon. The springs dried up, the shrubs and damaged residual trees withered and died and the slope became a desert with only the hardiest of Oaks surviving in an environment ten degrees warmer on a cloudy day- far more in the long weeks of direct summer sun. Our creek was clogged with sediment from erosion runoff in winter for several years and it’s flow dropped by at least twenty percent in summer, never returning to past levels.

 

In 1992, another timber company came in and logged the opposite canyon slope, removing all of the large trees. They came back in during 1999 to take all remaining merchantable trees, leaving nothing more than spindly trees with little value.  That winter, we once again saw a great deal of erosion off the barren slopes sending large amounts of sediments that clogged our irrigation system and a large decrease in creek flows the following summer. Springs that once flowed to the creek ceased producing water or were impeded by large cut/fills made for the wide logging roads. Temperatures rose even further, the character of the land changed from green conifer forest to dry woodland and the creek for the first time dried to a trickle in summer with only puddles dispersed along its length. So much for our water right…there was no water to have a right to from August until winter rains came and it never recovered.

 

The final nail in the coffin came a few years ago, when yet another timber company bought and logged the last piece of private land located at the uppermost slopes of the steep box canyon adjacent to National Forest land, just below where the headwaters of the creek lay.  Once again the treed canopy of each of the three slopes was removed and worse still, a huge twenty foot fill was placed across the entire canyon for a roadway up and out of the box canyon to National Forest lands above. A culvert was indeed installed at the bottom of the fill to enable the main creek flow to pass, but the fill created a dam which stopped the flow of the many springs which contributed to the formation of the creek. Again we saw the same scenario- increased temperatures and desertification of the remaining piece of a once lush forested watershed. The sediments buried our irrigation intake in four feet of gravel and silt that first winter and the following summer the creek ceased to flow by the 4th of July. It was heartbreaking to see deer snuffling for water in the dry creek bed and sad to see the riparian area that we have worked so hard to enhance, withering away and turning brown. The creek now rarely lasts past the 4th of July.

 

Our land is still an emerald tree covered island in a bleak landscape. It surprises us sometimes how cool our green canopy keeps the earth below when a short distance away is a blast furnace without protection by a treed cover. Our springs provide respite for wildlife who travel here knowing that they can still find life-giving water, and enable us to capture some water for our own use. But it is a bittersweet victory knowing that our land management has protected us somewhat from the fate of adjacent lands.

 

We once enjoyed the warm days of summer, falling asleep to the sound of the creek gurgling over the rocks and the scent of mockorange in bloom along its banks, but it is now with dread that we watch the days become hotter, baking the life force out of every living thing. I wince when I hear people say that global warming is not real and that excessive logging does not produce a change in the basic character of the land. We live it. It is real. Unfortunately this forested watershed, that we have spent our lives trying to protect and nurture our portion of, is altered forever. More unfortunate still- this is only one of hundreds of watersheds in Southern Oregon being irreversibly changed by land management that gives no consideration to the fact that it is creating hot, dry deserts where  there were once moist, cool forests. 

 

 
 
Please comment on this article:

 

sandnsea Donating Member Sat July 26-08
Probably the most important post today
    on th DU website!
It's stunning to me that people who are connected to the land through hunting, fishing, or even logging, can't see the damage right before their eyes. There are far too few people like the Kendricks.

 
 
Click below to read
 the Credo
 that we live by!



 

E-mail Forum:

This section includes discussion that does not represent our own views. Comments are posted so that you can see the wide array of viewpoints on this one simple issue and the sometimes uncivil attitude expressed by both sides. 

 

Please note that many of the recent comments posted came from people on websites where jak's articles titled:

"Forest Farming- The Ecological Approach to Forest Management"  , An Ecosystem Approach to Forestry" , "Ecosystem Services- Making the Link" and "Ecosystem Services- A Concept Whose Time Has Come" were published online. Follow these links:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Comments & Questions:

( Most recent comments are at the bottom of the page)

 

Question from LB:

Why does it matter what we do with our forested piece of property? What difference can my little spot of ground make in the scheme of the forest as a whole?

 

Answer from jk:

Every acre of forest that is managed in an ecological manner can provide many benefits such as additional oxygen production and homes for wild creatures. We must never have a defeatist attitude and need to understand that we are a part of a greater whole, albeit a tiny part. We are all serving the purpose of nurturing and protecting this Earth for future generations of humans.

 

Comment from Larry B.:

Global warming is a crock. I can't believe that you are buying into it.

 

Comment from RR:

What the hell do you people know! Leave forest management to people who have been in the business and know how to do it. We have done pretty good for along time before you started this crap.

 

Comment from justdoit @ Indymedia:

I and some friends (32 total) have formed a readers/polling group where once a week each person picks an article for everyone to read- yes, that is 32 articles. Everyone in the group reads and is polled about each article. Your article titled  "Forest Farming- The Ecological Approach to Forest Management" is one of them.  Here are the results of our poll:
30 liked the article and two did not. The two thought that the article was just more timber industry propaganda and did not believe a word of it. Of the 30 who liked it, 28 believed that this was written by a person who has a sincere committment to forest health and rehabilitation of the ecosystems that were previously harmed by logging. The remaining 4 who liked the article indicated that they wanted to believe that the writer was sincere in commitment to the earth, but that it was hard to believe that there was such a change in forest management techniques.

Comment from Buzn @ IMC:

When I read the article about forest farming on the Portland Independent  Media Center website, I envisioned a tree plantation with neat rows of trees, but I went to your website and what I saw was totally different- beautiful natural forest, wildlife and lots of native plants!
Now I get it!  Farming is growing things, and what you grow is not just trees-it is an entire forest! very cool. I like it.

 

Comment from "wish I were a tree on KFF" @ Indymedia:

I am amazed at this idea. I never considered that anyone interested in forestry, thought of anything but cutting trees. I am so glad that there are people who care about the forest in terms of ecosystems and the future of the Earth. Some of the photos on the website are incredible. I have ordered the "Alex's Forest Farm" book and cannot wait to receive it. Kudos Kendrick Forest Farm!!! Keep up the good work. Our future depends upon people like you.

 

Comment from Donna H @ IMC:

Although this was an interesting article, you are not the first forest farmers. There was an organization in so. oregon many years ago who were active in managing their forest land according to forest farm management principles. Orville camp headed the organization and wrote a book called "natural selection forestry" which talked about this type of management. I thought that they had all beome extinct, but maybe not.

 

Answer to Donna H. from jak:

Donna you are absolutely correct!. We were one of those very early eco-forestry pioneers and have been involved in the forest farm management movement from the time we met Orville Camp and read his book. It helped us to galvanize our thoughts and determination to manage our forest the way that we felt was right-not according to industry standards. There are not a lot of us around, but we are not "extinct"...more like Bigfoot- only visible if you really look hard in remote and quiet forests.    

 

Comment from Slicker @ IMC:

The general gist of the company *advertised* above is commendable, but the arrogant tone belies the managerial code embedded in its protestant outlook. Take for example the statement, "forest tree stands need to be thinned," a frequently bandied expression. Well, according to who and what circumstances does a forest "need" to be thinned? One would easily agree that the monocropped plantations that cover the state could stand to be "trimmed," but the concept that forests inherently need human management is absurd. I cannot even bring myself to look at the disgusting website showing the cutover forest of stumps.

 

Answer from jak:

You can't please people all of the time and we do not even try. Our focus is our forest. We try to do our best for our forest - not to gain approval from people...especially those who already have their miinds made up and do not even want to look and be certain that their words apply. (!!?)

Comment from "roadside viewer" @ Rogue Media:

I have looked out my car window as I whizzed down I-5 many times, but not once did I ever think about WHO renovates all those logged over lands that I grimace as I look at.

I think that this must be a tremendous undertaking and I salute someone with the interest and wherewithal to do so.

 

Comment from Biologeez:

I found this article interesting-if it is true. Far too many forest managers feed us a lot of BS, when their true intent is just to find an excuse to cut trees. I looked at the website associated with the article and liked what I saw. I have only one question...how is an operation such as this supported? I can't imagine that they would spend their earnings (it does indicate that they work outside the forest farm operation) just to grow trees. But wouldn't it be nice if it were true.

 

Answer from jk:

Alas, 'tis true...we work just to be able to support our forest.

 

Comment from Donald J.:

When I first read your forum article called Cut it,watch it or do not touch it, I thought that it was stupid. But my wife just weren't getting along and did not seem to understand what the other said, so we tried it. You saved our marriage.

 

Answer from jk:

Sometimes the simplest things are the best. Glad we could help.

 

Comment from angie B.:

I  read your forum article "Ecosystem Services- Making the Link" and find the concept very interesting.  I wonder if there are entities who are trying to create a marketplace for these services.  I also wonder if this is going to end up being just another scam by the forest industry? If it can be kept out of their hands perhaps it will be something that people will feel safe to invest in.

 

Answer from jk:

Angie, I understand your concern over this becoming just another industry scam and hope that it can develop into a program that will be functional for landowners like us and rewarding to those folks who want to invest. At present there are only a couple of programs that I am aware of.  We belong to an organization called the Oregon Small Woodlands Association who is interested in this concept. They are working on developing a "carbon aggregator" market for family woodland owners in conjunction with the American Forest Foundation.  Also, the Willamette Partnership is working on creating a market for temperature credits. 

 

Comment from runsilent at RogueIMC:

The conclusions reached in the article "Ecosystem Services- Making the Link" appear to be valid. The concept is intriguing and if it can be implemented could certainly provide a solution to what we are all concerned about- saving our forested ecosystems.

 

 

 

Do you have Forum input? Send us an e-mail at:

forum@kendrickforestfarm.com

 
 
 

alexander and jeannie

Kendrick Forest Farm

  Wilderville, Oregon  *   97543