In 2014, an analysis of Eastern Washington Forests done in collaboration between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the US Forest Service, identified 2.7 million acres of forestland in urgent need of restoration. That same year, Plum Creek Timber Co. put about 49,000 acres up for sale near Roslyn, WA, sparking TNC and a group of anonymous donors to form the Central Cascades Forest, LLC to purchase and manage the land. It was a great opportunity to address the regions’ critical forestland restoration issue on a local scale. Since then, over 1,200 acres of forest have undergone restoration much of which has occurred on Cle Elum Ridge.
Map of Central Cascade Forest (CCF) lands along Cle Elum Ridge showing the patchwork of restoration techniques being used.
Forest restoration can take many forms and oftentimes requires a patchwork of activities to establish a healthier forest ecosystem. One method being used in the Central Cascades Forest (CCF) is mastication, which is like chewing up all the extra vegetation and spitting it back out as mulch. This requires the use of heavy equipment that mulches any brush and trees less than 8” in diameter. So far, mastication has been completed on 850 acres with another couple of hundred acres planned between now and next summer.
Machines prepared for mastication of vegetation and small-diameter trees.
While it may not seem like much in the grand scheme, this work has a direct local impact for the communities of Cle Elum, Roslyn, and Ronald that are at risk for wildfires and were at risk in 2017 when the Jolly Mountain fire threatened these communities. Historically, the forests of eastern Washington had frequent low severity fires, but in the absence of fire and unsustainable forest management the forests are dense and overgrown.
A tree is marked number 49 prior to mastication as a reference point to see the changes over time.
Managing the landscape isn’t a one-size fits all prescription, but instead varies by stand and depends on factors such as tree density, species composition, and desired future outcomes. Often, this comes down to a method known as individuals, clumps, and openings. This means we clear the area around an individual tree, clumps composed of 2 to 20 trees, and clearing small areas of vegetation to leave open space, which adds variability to the landscape and breaks up a continuous wall of vegetation.
Tree number 49 on Cle Elum Ridge. Left: Area was treated by mastication in April/May 2021. Right: Understory vegetation has regrown with ample clearance between the larger trees.
The next step after mastication is often re-introducing good fire to the landscape in the form of prescribed burns. In October 2021, TNC implemented its first prescribed burn on CCF land and in less than a year we have seen how the ecosystem recovers and changes with native grasses and wildflowers populating the understory.
Although these tools will not prevent a wildfire from occurring, by breaking up the connection between the understory, midstory, and overstory and preventing the forest from becoming too dense again, any wildfire events should be less catastrophic.
Months after the first prescribed burn on CCF in October 2021, native grasses and wildflowers populate the understory.
Featured photo: Forestry workshop near Cle Elum, WA. Photo by Hannah Letinich.
