Washington Hunter
Well-known member
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PROSPECT, Ore. -- Giant pines that draw oohs and aahs near the headwaters of the Rogue River in Southern Oregon are in big trouble from small bugs.
So, beginning as early as this summer, the U.S. Forest Service will thin the small trees that clot stands of sugar and ponderosa pines along state Route 62 to the west of Crater Lake. The idea is to reduce stress on the giant pines and save them from the pine bark beetle.
"We're losing three to five of those big trees every year," said Joel King, a soil scientist and district ranger. "In another 50 years there won't be any of the big trees left."
The trees take centuries to grow to behemoth size -- King points out the Mammoth Pine, which beetles killed in the mid-1960s. The trunk stretches 224 feet; the stump measures 7 feet 11 inches in diameter.
"The biggest trees we have here now are from 400 to 500 years old but will live 1,200 to 1,400 years if they have adequate resources," King said.
"Everyone I talk to says they want these big trees saved," he said. "These trees are an earmark for the state of Oregon, for the West Coast."
At the popular Union Creek recreation area the trees draw crowds from all over the world, King said.
Stress set up the Mammoth Pine for the kill, King said, and the stress is the result of years of fire suppression that left the forests overgrown.
To preserve the huge trees, the U.S. Forest Service, after eight years of study, has decided to launch what it calls the Big Pines project by removing the smaller white fir, Douglas fir and other trees that threaten 90 of the largest sugar and ponderosa pines within the state Route 62 corridor.
In addition, the agency is planning to thin the forest by removing small-diameter trees near its Prospect ranger station and along the forest border with the town of Prospect to reduce the wildfire threat to both.
King said dense forests rob the big trees of water and nutrients. A healthy tree can defend against a bark beetle attack by pushing the insects out with sap.
"Those trees need a lot more space around them to thrive and combat the mountain pine beetle," said Ellen Goheen, a plant pathologist with the Rogue River-Siskiyou forest.
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PROSPECT, Ore. -- Giant pines that draw oohs and aahs near the headwaters of the Rogue River in Southern Oregon are in big trouble from small bugs.
So, beginning as early as this summer, the U.S. Forest Service will thin the small trees that clot stands of sugar and ponderosa pines along state Route 62 to the west of Crater Lake. The idea is to reduce stress on the giant pines and save them from the pine bark beetle.
"We're losing three to five of those big trees every year," said Joel King, a soil scientist and district ranger. "In another 50 years there won't be any of the big trees left."
The trees take centuries to grow to behemoth size -- King points out the Mammoth Pine, which beetles killed in the mid-1960s. The trunk stretches 224 feet; the stump measures 7 feet 11 inches in diameter.
"The biggest trees we have here now are from 400 to 500 years old but will live 1,200 to 1,400 years if they have adequate resources," King said.
"Everyone I talk to says they want these big trees saved," he said. "These trees are an earmark for the state of Oregon, for the West Coast."
At the popular Union Creek recreation area the trees draw crowds from all over the world, King said.
Stress set up the Mammoth Pine for the kill, King said, and the stress is the result of years of fire suppression that left the forests overgrown.
To preserve the huge trees, the U.S. Forest Service, after eight years of study, has decided to launch what it calls the Big Pines project by removing the smaller white fir, Douglas fir and other trees that threaten 90 of the largest sugar and ponderosa pines within the state Route 62 corridor.
In addition, the agency is planning to thin the forest by removing small-diameter trees near its Prospect ranger station and along the forest border with the town of Prospect to reduce the wildfire threat to both.
King said dense forests rob the big trees of water and nutrients. A healthy tree can defend against a bark beetle attack by pushing the insects out with sap.
"Those trees need a lot more space around them to thrive and combat the mountain pine beetle," said Ellen Goheen, a plant pathologist with the Rogue River-Siskiyou forest.
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