Gifford Pinchot National Forest

Welcome

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News from the Forest

The comment period for our In-Stream Fish Habitat Restoration Project has been extended until April 27, 2011.
Frustrated by the rapid spread of weeds in your yard and community? Want to help conserve and protect the natural beauty of the Columbia Gorge and the Hood River valley? Help be a part of the solution by learning about the weeds that are threatening our region and what you can do to stop them. In this workshop, experts from the Hood River Soil & Water Conservation District and Columbia Gorge Cooperative Weed Management Area will cover weed management guidelines, identification of ten of the area's worst weedy invaders and a short field trip to hone your identification skills with weed specimens in the field. Plus we'll give you the opportunity to bring in some of your unknown weeds to identify. Please come dressed for the weather. *Class qualifies for Oregon Pesticide Recertification Credits. Oregon-licensed pesticide applicators can receive three credit hours towards their recertification for this course. To register, please contact Hood River Community Education at 541-386-2055 or www.hrcommunityed.org. For more information about this event contact the Hood River Soil & Water Conservation District at 541-386-4588 or hrswcd@gorge.net. Saturday, April 9, 2011 9:00 a.m. – noon Cost: $5.00 OSU Extension office meeting room (2990 Experiment Station Rd, Hood River)
Portland's Cleveland High School Science Department Students Visit Steelhead Recovery Site at Historic Hemlock CCC Camp A rare late-Winter break in rain provided a dry, although chilly, opportunity for students from Portland's Cleveland High School to tour the dam-removal and fisheries enhancement site at Wind River Work Center to learn about why the old Hemlock dam was razed and what else the Mt. Adams Ranger District is doing at the site. They also learned a lot about some of the processes associated with anadromous (ocean-going) fish and their ecosystems.

Secure Rural Schools (Title II) Project Funding Information
Ascot Exploratory Drilling Project Page

Gifford Pinchot National Forest Awards First Biomass Sale

This sale consists of various conifer species that are not of sufficient quality for saw timber. Where saw timber sales were no longer feasible because of wood decay, dead trees were piled and burned at costs up to $700 per acre. Instead, the cut and removed material is now sold as biomass.

In recent years, the demand for biomass has increased for the production of energy, wood pellets and other products. Biomass is defined as trees and woody plants, including limbs, tops, needles, leaves and other woody parts, grown in a forest, woodland or rangeland environment that are the by-products of forest management.

“Marketing biomass will greatly enhance our ability to manage fuels and restore these forests to a healthy and resilient condition,” said Jon Nakae, silviculturist, Mt. Adams Ranger District. “We also seek to reduce wildfire threats in an area bordered by state, private and Yakama Indian Nation forests, as well as the wildland-urban interface of Trout Lake.”

Before Treatment

After Treatment

Mount St. Helens Scientist Receives National Award

Monument Scientist, Peter Frenzen was bestowed the US Forest Service’s 2010 Gifford Pinchot Award for Excellence in Interpretation and Conservation Education at the annual meeting of the National Association of Interpretation in Las Vegas, Nev.

“A special place like Mount St. Helens deserves the best, and we have it in Peter. His passion for this place inspires us all,” said Gifford Pinchot Forest Supervisor Janine Clayton. “We are really happy to have his contribution recognized at a national level and we couldn’t agree more.”

Youth Harvest Holiday Trees on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest

Every year, among the many other youth outings into the Forest, the Gifford Pinchot Urban Youth Program brings young people and their families out to cut a tree and to enjoy the snow at Wind River Work Center. Later, in the spring, they will take another group out to plant trees in that same area, giving back more than what was taken.

Mount St. Helens Thanks Our Interpretive Rangers

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest would like to thank all of our volunteers and partners.

Although an impossible task considering all of the groups and partners doing good work on the Forest, we will take this opportunity to recognize our Interpretive Rangers providing enhanced experiences at many sites on the Monument.

A hardy thank you and job-well-done to all of the following Interpretive Rangers as well as to those we may have missed.

Barbara Maehara	Mitch Nueber
Andrew DelGreco	Lindsey Schmid
Katie Agnew	Joy Kacoroski
Jenna VanDyk	Alison Burke
John Hand	Whitney Maxwell
Steffan Gregory	John Zapp
Maddie Rubenson	Rachel Mangan
Sara Phillips	Sheri Markwardt
Ana Manzur	Vilma Chan-Vasquez
Will DevanderSchueren	Kristina Grifee

Please click here and check out the Student Conservation Association Mount St. Helens Interpretive Rangers' blog to see what these students have been up to on the Monument this summer.

Steelhead Above Old Hemlock Dam Site

Please take a look at this short video showing a group of steelhead below the bridge crossing Trout Creek, a tributary to Wind River, at the Forest Service and Skamania County Wind River Work Center. Hemlock Dam's removal in 2009 has allowed access to critical and quality spawning habitat, helping to bolster dwindling Lower Columbia River ocean-going runs. And providing local jobs in the process. The site is an excellent place to see a fisheries restoration project first-hand at the day-use area and on the trail around the newly restored flood-plain.

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