By Steve Wilent
The Mountain Times
As I write this on a cool, cloudy Labor Day, another few days of hot weather are in the offing, according to the US Weather Service. We’ve had numerous days this summer in our area with temperatures of 90 degrees or more. Hot, dry weather means wildfire danger will be high, as it has been so often this year, and not just in Clackamas County. On August 29, Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek noted that nearly 5,000 firefighters were battling large fires across the state, down from a high of more than 10,000 this season.
“To date, across Oregon, 1.5 million acres have burned. Our ten-year average for an entire fire season is 640,000 acres burned,” said Kotek in a press release. “All this before we enter a dangerous time of fire season, where east winds are typically upon us in August and September. Every single one of us, from the federal and state leaders beside me to fellow Oregonians across the state continue to have a role to play to prevent the very real threat of fire that still lies ahead.”
As you no doubt recall, warm and dry east winds on Labor Day 2020 whipped across the state, with gusts up to 50 to 60 miles per hour. According to the Oregon Department of Forestry, peak gusts of more than 100 miles per hour were recorded at Timberline Lodge. The five megafires — wildfires of 100,000 acres or more — that started that month burned nearly 850,000 acres of forests, destroyed more than 4,000 homes, and led to the deaths of 11 people.
It is likely that fire danger will decrease dramatically by the time you receive this edition of The Mountain Times, but east winds and dry weather can occur in October or at any time of the year. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, there’s no better time to prepare for the inevitable wildfire in our area. See my August 2024 article about AntFarm Youth Services’ Community Wildfire Defense Program. Consider signing up for a free home assessment. For many homeowners, AntFarm offers free fuels reduction on your property.
If you are serious about preparing your property and your neighborhood for wildfire, I encourage you to join the Mt. Hood Corridor Partnership, which is “a collection of Federal, State, and County agencies along with permitted ski areas, infrastructure partners, Community Planning Organizations (CPOs) and Homeowner Associations (HOAs) that live, work and play in the Mt. Hood Corridor who want to be better prepared, more resilient, informed and organized when a wildfire incident occurs in this area.”
The partnership holds monthly meetings open to anyone. This month, it’s on Wednesday, October 9 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hoodland Fire District station at 69634 US Highway 26 in Welches. Earlier that same day, the partnerships’ CPO/HOA Workgroup meets from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
For more information and information on attending the meetings via Zoom, see www.mthoodwildfirepartnership.org.
Bad Beetles Aim at Oregon Ash
The emerald ash borer (EAB), an invasive wood-boring beetle from Asia, was first detected in North America in 2002 in southeast Michigan. Since then it has spread to 36 states and the District of Columbia, including, as of 2022, Oregon.
EAB may be a beautiful insect, but it is responsible for the death and decline of tens of millions of ash trees in North America. The beetle lays its eggs in the bark crevices of ash trees; when the eggs hatch, the larvae burrow into the tree where they feed on the inner bark, killing the tree.
The beetle is spread when people move EAB-infested ash firewood, logs, or nursery stock. The US Department of Agriculture’s Plant Health and Inspection Service recently announced that the beetles are now present in Clackamas, Marion, and Yamhill counties and are a potent threat to the native Oregon ash trees as well as ash species imported from other regions that are valued as street and landscape trees in cities and towns.
Oregon ash is found from northern Washington to southern California, including in the western Cascade Range; it grows in western Clackamas County but is more common in the Willamette Valley.
Until recently, most wooden baseball bats were made from ash. With ash wood
increasingly rare, however, many bats are now made from maple or birch, and I’ve read that bats made of beech wood may soon make plate appearances in baseball games.
On a Personal Note –
As of August 12, I’ve been working for AntFarm Youth Services as its Public Lands Program Manager. I oversee crews that maintain trails and campgrounds for the Bureau of Land Management and the US Forest Service. I admire AntFarm’s focus on working with young people and its overall mission: “AntFarm’s vision is to see all people healthy, live with purpose, and contribute to community well being. Our mission is to create and connect a healthy, purposeful, and compassionate community by providing culturally aware and responsive life-changing learning experiences for youth and families.” (see antfarmyouthservices.com).
(For what it’s worth, when I wrote my August 2024 column about AntFarm’s Community Wildfire Defense Program, I had no idea I’d end up working for AntFarm. Which is why I may mention AntFarm in future articles, just FYI.)
Have a question about EAB or Oregon ash? Would vine maple make a good baseball bat? Let me know. Email: SWilent@gmail.com.