Terry Stokka has lived in Black Forest for 29 years. He is president of the Friends of Black Forest, chairman of the Black Forest Land Use Committee and chairman of the Black Forest Water & Wells Committee.
Mitigation — the time is now
By Terry Stokka
In the first half of 2025, we experienced above-normal snow and rain that made the grass grow tall and colored the trees a deep green. However, by mid-summer, the sky shut off, and the rest of the year was very dry.
This winter has been unusually warm and dry, with daytime temperatures in the 60s and nighttime temperatures above freezing. So far, at my house, we have received only 18 inches of snow, less than half the average of 37 inches by the end of January. The warm weather compounds the situation by sucking moisture out of the ground faster than normal.
Weather forecasters have predicted a drier spring than usual because of the La Niña weather phenomenon affecting the eastern Pacific Ocean. That is not good news.
A dry spring means two main things: more beetles and greater fire danger. If the trees don’t receive enough moisture, they produce less sap, allowing pine beetles to bore into the trees and lay eggs in greater numbers. Many of those trees that are attacked will die and become a fire hazard. The increased fire danger reminds us of the spring of 2013. That June, we received less than half of the normal precipitation. The temperature on the day of the fire reached 97 degrees, the second record high in a row. The humidity was at 4%, and when the wind picked up to 42 mph in the afternoon, the fire, which I suspect was started by arson, took off and didn’t stop for three days. Two people died, 488 homes were destroyed, and 14,000 acres of forest were burned. It will take more than a generation to restore those areas to their former beauty.
Mitigation is a term we hear often, but few people take it to heart. Mitigation refers to forest management, where trees are thinned, and dead trees and branches are removed. Most of the timbered area of Black Forest has too many trees on each lot. Foresters tell us that a properly thinned forest has trees with branches that do not touch those of adjoining trees. I confess that my lot is too dense, meaning the trees must compete for available water. Larger trees require much more water, and when they can’t get it, they produce less sap, making them vulnerable to a beetle invasion. When you see a cluster of trees turning light green or orange, you can be sure the beetles have attacked.
Many people are uncomfortable using a chain saw and lack the time, energy, or know-how to tackle major mitigation on their lots. Simply cutting down a dying tree does not solve the problem, as the tree remains moist long enough for the beetles to mature and fly to the next tree. On my lot, I cut the tree into firewood lengths and split the wood so it can dry and kill the beetles before they mature. The slash can be taken to the slash/mulch site, where it will be ground into mulch, killing any remaining beetles.
For those uncomfortable with a chain saw, an alternative mitigation method is using loppers. The lower branches of a pine tree often die as the tree grows taller, and these branches pose a fire risk. In a ladder fire, flames move along the ground, consuming pine needles, and can ignite the lower, dead branches on trees. That fire can then move upward into the higher branches, where dry needles are found, engulfing the entire tree. By lopping off dead and even some green branches up to about 6 feet off the ground, you can help prevent a ladder fire. If the trees are widely spaced, a ladder fire wouldn’t spread to other trees, allowing the lower branches to be saved if they are green. Smaller trees can be protected this way.
When a fire occurs in high winds, flames can jump from treetop to treetop, creating what is known as a crown fire. Crown fires are impossible to stop unless the wind dies down or a large open space prevents the embers from reaching the next tree. We experienced a crown fire in 2013.
Let’s get serious about mitigation and clean up our lots to prevent fire from devastating our beautiful forest again. At a minimum, get a pair of loppers and remove the branches that could lead to a ladder fire. Don’t let a ground fire rise up into the treetops. If we all work together, we can significantly reduce the risk of a forest fire this summer.
