Dr. Johnston has been involved with the Blue Mountains Forest Partners for more than a decade by providing the forest collaborative and the Malheur National Forest with rigorous, place-based monitoring data, research, and synthesis on dry forest dynamics, disturbance processes, efficacy of ecological forestry restoration practices, and causes of mortality of mature and old growth trees on the Malheur National Forest.

Mechanical thinning is helping to improve the health and resiliency of seasonally dry forests in Eastern Oregon, according to research by Oregon State University. For the last decade, a team of scientists led by James Johnston, assistant professor in the College of Forestry at OSU, has trekked into a rugged area of the Malheur National Forest north of Burns to study the environmental effects of one thinning project.

Forest thinning is improving the robustness of older trees and enhancing native biodiversity on federal lands in Eastern Oregon, evidence that collaborative efforts to restore forests are working, research by Oregon State University shows. The study, led by James Johnston of the OSU College of Forestry, involved long-term monitoring and research partnerships between OSU, the U.S. Forest Service and local groups in Oregon’s Blue Mountains.

Some loggers headed in to cut down trees in the Blue Mountains may soon be prioritizing habitat over board feet. That’s because Blue Mountains Forest Partners, a group of stakeholders including loggers, environmentalists, ranchers, landowners, timber industry representatives, elected officials and federal land managers, has just finalized a new draft of what’s called a wildlife habitat zone of agreement.

Malheur Lumber Company in John Day used to be one of many mills in Grant County. By 2012, though, it was the last one and came very close to closing its doors for good. Then, the U. S. Forest Service agreed to increase restoration logging in Malheur National Forest, and that contract kept the mill going. Now, Malheur Lumber is one of three mills in Grant County.

We know what we need to do but do we have the will to do it? That was the burning question that defined last Thursday's screening of the documentary "The West Is Burning." The hour-long documentary was hosted by Discover Your Forest at the Sisters Movie House, a free event encouraging community members to learn and join in the discussion of wildfire risk and management in the western states.

In a new study published in PLOS One, researchers from Oregon State University have found that wildfires need to fall within a narrow range of severity to improve the health of dry forests east of the Cascade Range in Oregon.

BMFP participated with other partners to develop this Joint Chiefs proposal and we’re excited for the opportunities it will provide to perform restoration work on public and private lands in Grant County.

BMFP participated with other partners to develop this Joint Chiefs proposal and we’re excited for the opportunities it will provide to perform restoration work on public and private lands in Grant County.

Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Mike Crapo (R-ID) today teamed up to introduce the bipartisan Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration (CFLR) Program Reauthorization Act of 2023. This legislation would reauthorize and expand the CFLR program, which helps fund collaborative and community-based forest management. The CFLR program has a proven track record of improving forest health, reducing wildfire risk, and supporting rural communities.

We’re working collaboratively to restore the southern Blue Mountains in Eastern Oregon. Explore the benefits of our work on the Malheur National Forest in this interactive story map created by our partners at the Oregon State University.

We’ve heard the voices of frustration and challenges about how long it takes to create a productive network, alliance, or partnership. And the questions come – How long will this take? Why can’t we move faster? Is this worth it? Will this actually work?

In eastern Oregon, one strategy has proven effective at inoculating communities against extremist ideology. The approach is well-suited to the complex problems facing society today. “There’s a recognition that in many cases no one entity, no agency, no decision-maker can really solve it on their own.”

Falling asleep under the stars next to a crinkling creek is the best way to end a day. I learned this quickly as I began two months of conservation work in Oregon with the Northwest Youth Corps last summer. My crew spent our nights in tents and our days working with project partners such as the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Trout Unlimited to restore numerous Northeast Oregon headwater tributaries, including streams in the North Fork John Day and Grande Ronde river basins.

Novel approaches to framing wildfire protection (e.g., potential operational delineations, or PODs) and advancements in modeling tools have been critical to improving our understanding of fire and its potential impacts. The successful use of those tools requires data that are accurate at fine resolution, spatially explicit, and current. However, such data often do not exist or are extremely time intensive and costly to develop.

One of the most venomous battles in our polarized nation is the one that has unfolded between loggers and environmentalists in timber towns like this one in the snow-capped Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon. Yet, astonishingly, peace has broken out here. Loggers and tree-huggers who once loathed and feared each other have learned to hold their noses and cooperate — and this may have saved the town. It may also offer lessons for a divided country.

Environmentalists, working alongside timber industry professionals, helped end the ban on logging trees over 21 inches. Instead of fighting in the courtroom, with environmental lawsuits halting timber projects, the former adversaries joined together in forest collaboratives to find areas of agreement using science.

Today our forests in Lake and Klamath Counties are in jeopardy. Insect infestations, overstocked Western juniper, and an altered fire regime have all led to heavy fuel loads. A single lightning strike today has a greater probability of creating a catastrophic wildfire that will burn hotter and more intensely than historical natural fire. Watch this short video to see how we can work together to restore our forests!

How has the global pandemic affected forest restoration on the Malheur National Forest? We hear from Iron Triangle Logging and Malheur Lumber Company about how they have adjusted to this new challenge.

After the “Timber Wars” left both sides with deep animosity, loggers and environmentalists have done the unthinkable in Eastern Oregon: they've worked together to find common ground—and even become friends. This is the story of the Blue Mountains Forest Partners, one of the most successful forest collaboratives in the Pacific Northwest.