by Herman Flamenco, conservation forester
The How Go Commercial Thin Project began in June of 2021 on Cle Elum Ridge and officially wrapped up in September of 2023. There were a few cool things that came about from this project. One was that some of the wood from this project was used to build the Portland Airport's new wood roof. Another was the opportunity to study the impact that thinning has on snowpack depth and retention. And most importantly, it gave me the opportunity to gain some ties to the property. Here are some images to help summarize this project.
The overall goal of the How Go Commercial Thin Project was to reduce wildfire risk to the surrounding communities and improve forest health by decreasing the number of trees. We implemented the Individuals, Clumps, and Openings Method to help create spatial variability in the forest so that it resembles a more natural forest. Remaining trees now have more space to grow and have more resources available to them to help make them more resilient to a changing climate and attacks from insects and diseases.
Some other cool things that came about from this project. One was that some of the wood from this project was used to build the Portland Airport’s new wood roof. Another was the opportunity to study the impact that thinning has on snowpack depth and retention. And most importantly, it gave me the opportunity to gain some ties to the property. Here are some images to help summarize this project.
Here is a great before and after shot (above). This was an area that was marked to be heavily thinned (remove more trees). It is easy to see the drastic change in light and spacing between trees.
©Herman Flamenco/TNC
This image above shows a corridor, a path that has been cleared to pull logs up a steep slope. More importantly in this image you can see different forest stand densities. On the left is a thinned area and on the right is an untreated area.
©Herman Flamenco/TNC
This image above shows what we expect from implementing the individual, clumps, and openings (ICO) method. In the left corner there is a single ponderosa pine, trees have been cleared around it. The back of the image shows a clump of trees, a group that is close together. And the forefront of the image is an opening, all trees have been cleared.
©Herman Flamenco/TNC
This map (above) shows the 236 acres that were treated in pink. All the small polygons shows the variability we were able to create. The yellow polygons are openings and the light green are clumps composed of at least 8 trees. The dark green polygons are areas that were left untreated, either because it was an area that was difficult or not cost effective to treat or were going to be used in the snowpack study as a control.
©Herman Flamenco/TNC
Remus conducting quality control throughout the life of the project. ©Herman Flamenco/TNC
