Thread: Oregon/Douglas Fir

Great resource!

One of the pleasures of living in its native range is that we are awash in it. With the downturn in construction, price is pretty decent too.

Rick I've heard that large areas of forest have been struck by disease from bugs that used to be killed off by a harsh winter (maybe what I recall applies particularly to Alaska). I often wondered whether the timber from these dying trees is harvestable and stock-piled, or wasted??
Similarly, I often wonder about the trees burnt in California wildfires. I believe that in Australia, dead pines soon loose their value if left standing. If the rot doesn't get them the wasps and insects seem to.

Originally Posted by rob540

Rick I've heard that large areas of forest have been struck by disease from bugs that used to be killed off by a harsh winter (maybe what I recall applies particularly to Alaska). I often wondered whether the timber from these dying trees is harvestable and stock-piled, or wasted??
Similarly, I often wonder about the trees burnt in California wildfires. I believe that in Australia, dead pines soon loose their value if left standing. If the rot doesn't get them the wasps and insects seem to.

In British Columbia and Southeast Alaska the engraver beetle has killed large stands of trees. Burnt over areas are routinely salvage logged. As long as the timber remains standing, fire killed trees will last quite a while. If a big saw log is laying on the wet ground, it won't last long. Also, the huge fires here in CA are more common in Southern California, where little commercial logging occurs. When even a huge fire burns over timberland, it represents a very small percentage of the available timberlands, and impact on harvest is pretty much nil.

ETA: In my observation, beetle killed trees are inferior. They seem to rot quicker from fungus, maybe introduced by the bugs.

Originally Posted by rob540

I believe that in Australia, dead pines soon loose their value if left
standing. If the rot doesn't get them the wasps and insects seem to.

Yep. Our two main plantation species - pinus radiata (Monterey Pine) & pinus elliotii
(Florida or Yellow Pine) have very poor durability once deceased. After a fire in a
mature plantation, there is a Big Rush to harvest the timber. I'm told that what can't
be immediately processed can be kept for several months in water. A couple of lakes
around Cantberra were used this way after the 2005 fires.
cheers
AJ