Recreation alert: Limited trail closures in Capitol State Forest during Timber Harvest

DNR Law Enforcement Officer Jason Bodine patroling Capitol State Forest. Photo By: DNR

Timber harvests operations in Capitol State Forest will cause some temporary trail re-routes and closures near Straddleline until further notice. The North Rim motorized trail (near the North Rim #2, #3 split) has been re-routed onto a forest road. The Loki motorized trail has been closed at the KC line and the ORV park tie trail is closed.

The trail closures are in place for the safety of the public. It’s important to honor these closures for your own safety as well as that of those working in the area. Timber harvest activities will result in increased heavy truck and equipment traffic, so be sure to keep an eye out on the forest roads. Always yield to these vehicles. They are big, and they don’t stop quickly.

Capitol State Forest has many other accessible trails, but if you’d like to avoid the situation altogether, Tahuya State Forest offers excellent trails and is within roughly 50 miles of Capitol State Forest.

DNR updates its web site with information about seasonal and temporary closures as well as other information you need to plan your outdoor adventure. Visit www.dnr.wa.gov/recreation.

DNR looking for a volunteer host for Dragoon Creek Campground

A picnic area and meadow on a sunny summer day at Dragoon Creek. Photo By: DNR/ Diana Lofflin

Have you ever spent a weekend camping and thought to yourself; “Man, I wish this didn’t have to end”? Well it might not have to. DNR is looking for a volunteer campground host for Dragoon Creek Campground and you may be just the person for the job.

Volunteer campground hosts play a crucial role in protecting our most popular recreation areas. They maintain the areas, answer questions for the public, and work directly with DNR staff. Volunteers serve as a direct contact with law enforcement, and their presence is a reminder to the public that we all work together to preserve state lands. Without volunteer campground hosts, we wouldn’t be able to keep some of these areas open.

Dragoon Creek Campground is a local favorite for its remote feel regardless of being conveniently located so close to town. The campground is just 14 miles north of Spokane, and boasts 22 developed campsites, RV access, drinking water, restrooms, and campfire pits throughout the grounds. Host site amenities include water, power, sewer, and phone to make things a little more comfortable.

All hosts must complete Basic First Aid training and pass a Washington State Patrol criminal background check.

If you’ve made it this far and you’re still interested, you can contact Kyle Pomeranky for more information at 509-685-2719, or kyle.pomrankey@dnr.wa.gov

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DNR weekend reading: Economic value of urban trees, forests shifting northward and other stories

A snag like this one in Capitol State Forest can provide shelter and forage to birds, small mammals, and other wildlife. Photo: Jessica Payne/DNR.

Here are links to articles about natural resources, climate, energy and other topics published recently by universities, scientific journals, organizations, and other sources:

US Forest Service: US urban trees store carbon, provide billions in economic value
America’s urban forests store an estimated 708 million tons of carbon, an environmental service with an estimated value of $50 billion, according to a recent U.S. Forest Service study. The annual net carbon uptake by these trees is estimated at 21 million tons and their economic benefit at $1.5 billion.

NASA–Jet Propulsion Laboratory: NASA Opens New Era in Measuring Western U.S. Snowpack
A new NASA airborne mission has created the first maps of the entire snowpack of two major mountain watersheds in California and Colorado, producing the most accurate measurements to date of how much water they hold. The agency plans to exand the mapping to other mountain watersheds.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: New Study: As Climate Changes, Boreal Forests to Shift North and Relinquish More Carbon Than Expected
Boreal forests will likely shift north at a steady clip this century. Along the way, the vegetation will relinquish more trapped carbon than most current climate models predict.

University of Wisconsin: Decline in snow cover spells trouble for many plants, animals
In a warming world, winter and spring snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere is in decline, putting at risk many plants and animals that depend on the space beneath the snow to survive the blustery chill of winter.

University of Calgary: Human impacts on natural world underestimated
A comprehensive five-year study by University of Calgary ecologists indicates that conservation research may not giving enough consideration to the influence of human activity on natural ecosystems and food chains.

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Board of Natural Resources approves two state trust land transactions at regular monthly meeting

This 19-acre in-holding will become part of Green Mountain State Forest after DNR completes its purchase from a willing private seller, Photo: Ray Lasmanis/DNR.

At its regular monthly meeting earlier this week, the state Board of Natural Resources approved two transactions involving state trust land:

Warden 16 Direct Transfer. Grant County Port District #8 asked to purchase 218 acres of Common School trust property, part of which is within the city limits of Warden in Grant County. A portion of the parcel is already zoned for light industrial use. The appraised value is $1,145,000. The Board agreed to sell 111 acres now for $525,000 in cash, and sell an additional 107 acres for $620,000 on a three-year contract. The interest rate on the payments will be 6 percent, which is the minimum rate set by law for sales by real estate contract by DNR. The property would revert to the State if the Port defaulted on the purchase The funds will be used to buy other lands for the Common School trust.

Green Mountain 20 Trust Acquisition. Nineteen acres of forestland in Kitsap County will be acquired by the Common School trust. DNR will manage the land, which is primarily timbered with 25-year old Douglas fir, as a working forest. The property also contains a small communication site that generates about $7,800 per year in lease revenue. The land, which is an in-holding in the Green Mountain State Forest, is being purchased from a willing private seller. The purchase price of $170,000 comes from a fund dedicated to replacing trust land, including the Common School Trust.

DNR manages nearly 1.8 million acres of Common School trust lands for revenue to support public school construction projects statewide.

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Protect your home before wildfire hits your area; your best offense is defense

Boy Scouts learn how to properly put out their campfire

Washington State has had an early start to wildfire season, and the look ahead is not reassuring. DNR is asking you for your help: be prepared for wildfire and be cautious as to not accidently start a fire.

Learn your role in protecting your community from wildfire. As a homeowner, land manager, first responder, developer, business owner or civic leader, we want to encourage you to ‘Know Your Role’ when it comes to preparing for wildfire.

Create defensible space
Washington State will get warmer and drier in the next several months, so creating defensible space now is vital to protecting you and your community. If you live close to or in the forest, a safe zone – created by removing brush and other flammable materials – around your home can help protect your property.  

DNR weekend reading: How seeds know when to sprout after a wildfire

Enroute to Willapa Spits at the tip of the Long Beach Peninsula to collect razor clams for neurotoxin testing for the upcoming commercial razor clam harvest, a DNR Aquatic Resources crew spotted this unusual cloud formation. Photo: Andrea Hegland/DNR.

Salk Institute: Smoke signals: How burning plants tell seeds to rise from the ashes
In the spring following a forest fire, trees that survived the blaze explode in new growth and plants sprout in abundance from the scorched earth. Now, scientists have a new understanding of the molecular trigger that causes seeds, some long dormant, to push through the ashes to regenerate the burned forest.

Science Daily: Lava Erupting On Sea Floor Linked to Deep-Carbon Cycle
Scientists have found unsuspected linkages between the oxidation state of iron in volcanic rocks and variations in the chemistry of the deep Earth. Not only do the trends run counter to predictions from recent decades of study, they belie a role for carbon circulating in the deep Earth.

DNR weekend reading: Fiercer fires ahead, mysterious dark lightning, and other science news

Children learned proper tree planting techniques at Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day, April 25, in Olympia. Photo: Jessica Payne/DNR.

Here are links to articles about natural resources, climate, energy and other topics published recently by universities, scientific journals, organizations, and other sources:

environment360: Fires Burn More Fiercely As Northern Forests Warm
From North America to Siberia, rising temperatures and drier woodlands are leading to a longer burning season and a significant increase in forest fires. Scientists warn that this trend is expected to continue in the years ahead.

American Geophysical Union: Wildfires can burn hot without ruining soil, new study finds
A fiery test on a 22-acre watershed in Portugal found that the hotter the fire—and the denser the vegetation feeding the flames—the less the underlying soil heated up, an inverse effect which runs contrary to previous studies and conventional wisdom

Florida International University: Researchers uncover mystery of charcoal’s fate
US and European researchers have established that black carbon, or biochar—most of it produced by wildfires and other biomass combustion—doesn’t stay in the soil indefinitely. Each year, around 27 million tons of it is transported to the sea by rivers and thus enters the carbon cycle.

American Geophysical Union: Scientists detect dark lightning linked to visible lightning
Dark lightning—the most energetic radiation produced naturally on Earth—was unknown before 1991. Scientists now know that these bursts of gamma rays occur in thunderstorms; next is figuring out ‘why.”

Soil Science Society of America: Study finds that residential lawns release more carbon dioxide than corn fields
A new study finds that more carbon dioxide is released from residential lawns than corn fields. Although the difference is attributable to higher soil temperatures in urbanized areas compared with agricultural lands, the implication is that even small urban ‘heat islands’ have an impact on carbon dioxide release amounts.

 

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Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work® at DNR

Kids had the chance to meet Smokey Bear at DNR’s Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work® Day event. Photo by: DNR/Jessica Payne

Yesterday the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) celebrated Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work® Day with the children of state employees.

This year, the Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work® Foundation partnered with the National Association of State Foresters to introduce children to careers in forestry. Almost a hundred kids came out to learn about the jobs we do at DNR, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Washington Department of Agriculture.

For half a day, the Natural Resources Building here in Olympia was transformed into an education fair featuring trees, bugs, and geodes. Kids had an opportunity to learn how foresters work in the woods and try to stump the forester with their questions. They got up close with bugs while learning about forest health from one of DNR’s entomologists.

This little girl is proud to show off a sparkly geode at the Washington Geology Library exhibit for the event. Photo by: DNR/Jessica Payne

At the Washington Geology Library, children learned the life-cycle of a rock and identified special rocks, from geodes to the Washington state gem:petrified wood. Many kids put their directional skills to the test by learning to use a compass and trying to complete the orienteering course mapped out by DNR’s recreation staff. They were given a noble fir seedling from DNR’s Webster Nursery and practiced proper planting with the Washington Conservation Corps Urban Forestry team.

These little girls got to get an up close look at the bugs that affect the health of Washington’s trees. Photo by: DNR/Jessica Payne

Participants also learned how Geographic Information System (GIS) specialists make maps and use technology to help DNR teams fight wildland fires.

They also experienced what it’s like to be a DNR firefighter by meeting some of the team, trying on personal protective equipment, and meeting Smokey Bear, who paid a special visit. Even Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark came down to meet the children, thank the volunteers, and snap a quick photo with Smokey.

View photos from the event on our Flickr page here.

DNR is happy to have had the opportunity to recruit our future generations of state land managers. If you are interested in finding out about the several types of careers that DNR has to offer, visit our jobs page and apply to work with DNR today.

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DNR weekend reading: World’s largest underwater observatory will be off Washington’s coast, and other news

Pack animals helped haul gravel used to prepare trails in Capitol State Forest for the start of the motorized trail-use season in May. Photo: Diana Lofflin/DNR.

Here are links to articles about natural resources, climate, energy and other topics  published recently by universities, scientific journals, organizations, and other sources:

KUOW-earthfix: Getting Ready For World’s Largest Underwater Observatory
The Regional Cabled Observatory is a $239 million project, funded by the National Science Foundation, that will place monitoring devices off the coast of Oregon and Washington to better understand and monitor the depths of the Pacific Ocean – from volcanic eruptions to deep-sea earthquakes that could lead to tsunamis.

National Science Foundation: Cutting Specific Atmospheric Pollutants Would Slow Sea Level Rise
With coastal areas bracing for rising sea levels, new research indicates that cutting emissions of four heat-trapping pollutants–methane, tropospheric ozone, hydrofluorocarbons and black carbon–that cycle comparatively quickly through the atmosphere could temporarily forestall the rate of sea level rise by roughly 25 to 50 percent. 

DNR weekend reading: Trees that fight crime; better ways to measure wetland health, and other news

A lone Pacific smelt in the Columbia River near Longview takes a ‘break’ during its upstream migration to spawn in the Cowlitz, Kalama or Lewis rivers. Photo: James Huinker/DNR.

Here are links to articles about natural resources, climate, energy and other topics  published recently by universities, scientific journals, organizations, and other sources:

environment.yale.edu: Trees Shed Bad Rap as Accessories to Crime
Even when different research methodologies are used, studies find that violent crimes (assaults, robberies, and burglaries) occur less often in greener areas of cities (including Portland, Oregon; Philadelphia; and Baltimore), even when the education, poverty, and population levels of the neighborhoods studied are comparable.

University of Missouri: Measuring Microbes Makes Wetland Health Monitoring More Affordable, Says MU Researcher
Measuring the presence and health the tiny, unseen creatures in wetlands provides crucial indicators of an ecosystem’s microbiological health. The approach is cheaper and faster than the traditional assessment of larger wetland species, such as birds and mammals. It also could lead to improvements in harnessing natural processes of wetlands to filter wastewater.

NOAA: New study: A warming world will further intensify extreme precipitation events
A newly published National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration- (NOAA) led study suggests that as the globe warms from rising atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, the additional moisture held in a warmer atmosphere will lead to notable increases in extreme precipitation events in the Northern Hemisphere.

Science Daily: Carbon Dioxide Released from Burning Fuel Today Could Go Back Into New Fuels Tomorrow
At the recent National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, researchers discussed ways to find a use for the megatons of carbon dioxide that may be removed from industrial smokestacks during efforts to curb global warming. The goal is to create an efficient process for converting carbon dioxide back into the fuel that released it in the first place.

Stanford University: Biodiversity does not reduce transmission of disease from animals to humans, Stanford researchers find
A new meta-analysis of published studies pokes holes in widely accepted theory that connects biodiversity abundance with a reduced disease risk for humans. the researchers found that the links between biodiversity and disease prevalence are variable and dependent on the disease system, local ecology and probably human social context.