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Forest Journalism for a Sustainable Future

Can the Endangered Species Act save whitebark pines?

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The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said it does not have the funding needed to restore whitebark pines. Photo by USFWS

Whitebark pine, one of the West’s iconic and essential species is in danger – so much so that U.S. Forest Service ecologist Bob Keane says there may someday be so few trees “we will probably name the ones we see.”

Officially, the agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say the whitebark pine warrants listing as an endangered species and could very well be extinct within 100 years.

So why isn’t the high-elevation species listed as endangered? Is listing the solution to the drastically reduced number of whitebark pines? What will be the impact of climate change? What effect will this summer’s planned delisting of Yellowstone grizzly bears have on the potential whitebark listing? [Read more…]

Mass timber gets the nod for University of Idaho’s new basketball arena

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The new basketball arena will be built directly north of Idaho’s existing Kibbie Dome. Artist’s rending: Opsis Architecture.

The momentum for mass timber continues to gain strength and speed, with last week’s announcement that the University of Idaho will build its new $30 million basketball arena from wood.

Why? Because Idaho wants, and needs, to stand out from its recruiting season competitors – and the new basketball arena might do the trick.

“It ties in with our land grant mission. It ties in with the timber industry. It ties in with our need for a facility. This is really resonating with people,” UI Athletic Director Rob Spear told the Spokesman-Review’s Peter Harriman. [Read more…]

Vaagen Timbers jump-starts Washington’s interest in mass timber with new plant

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Russ Vaagen, a fourth-generation lumberman in northeastern Washington and vice president of Vaagen Brothers Lumber Co., pioneered the use of small-diameter timber in wood products manufacturing two decades ago.

Russ Vaagen is a third-generation lumberman and entrepreneur. (theforestblog.com)

Now he’s building the state of Washington’s first mass-timber production plant.

He announced the formation of Vaagen Timbers at this year’s International Mass Timber Conference in Portland. By this time next year, the Colville plant will be churning out cross-laminated timber and glue-laminated beams – the two primary mass timber building materials.

“This is the revitalization of the timber industry,” Vaagen said. “Mass timber allows us to do the right thing at the right time. It’s not a political deal at all. It’s a mix of science and social science.”

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Mexico’s cloud forest: Searching for elusive wild cat species with the locals

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Mexico’s National Commission for Biodiversity reports that Mexico has more than 50 species of pine and more than 150 species of oak. Nearly a quarter of the world’s oak species only can be found in Mexico. Photo: Matthew Hyde

SIERRA de CACOMA, Mexico — The caravan of Toyota pickups careened down the twisting mountain road. I sat in the back seat of the third car, praying we wouldn’t tumble off the steep mountainside on the next turn.

An hour in, the caravan pulled over a wide turnout on the dirt road. It was time for a parada tecnica, a pit stop. A fat man with his shirt halfway unbuttoned jumped out of the lead car with a bottle of tequila in each hand. He did a quick shimmy, the music started, and everyone was out of the cars and dancing. “La Banda Está Borracha” — “The Band is Drunk” — blared from one of the trucks.

We were driving through the cloud forest in the Sierra de Cacoma, the coastal mountains of Jalisco, Mexico. Towering firs and pines surrounded us on all sides, moss and lichens hanging from their branches. The thick fog glowed orange as the sun set. [Read more…]

Framework: Portland’s wooden skyscraper secures building permits

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The nation’s first wooden skyscraper will break ground this fall in Portland, Oregon, after an historic series of state and local building permits were issued this week.

At 148 feet, or 11 stories, Framework will be the nation’s first high-rise building made of wood. It will provide offices for Albina Community Bank and its parent, Beneficial State Bank, as well as retail outlets and five floors of subsidized housing in Portland’s Pearl District. [Read more…]