A sign at the Gales Creek Fire Station noting “Extreme” fire danger on Wednesday, September 9, 2020. Photo: Chas Hundley The Oregon Department of Forestry plans to keep all forests under their purview closed to public entry and use through at least Wednesday, September 16. The earliest they could open[Read More…]
Tillamook State Forest
Region closed to logging, other industrial forest use
A “Super Scooper” plane fights the Powerline Fire near Cherry Grove. Photo taken from ODF video Beginning Friday, September 11 at 1 a.m., logging and other industrial forest activities in the entirety of the Northwest Oregon Forest Protective Association region will be closed due to wildfire danger and limited firefighting[Read More…]
Tillamook State Forest closed to public use
The Gales Creek Overlook in the Tillamook State Forest. File photo: Chas Hundley//Gales Creek Journal The Tillamook State Forest is closed to the public, as are other forestlands protected by the agency in northwest Oregon due to extreme wildfire danger and limited firefighting resources. In an alert issued Wednesday afternoon,[Read More…]
Hot weather prompts shift in precautions for logging in region
ODF offices in Forest Grove. Photo: Chas Hundley For those who work in the Tillamook State Forest and surrounding forests protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry, logging and other commercial activities will need to shift certain activities out of the hottest parts of the day as much of the[Read More…]
‘Worst fire danger of the year:’ ODF warns of hazardous conditions ahead of Labor Day weekend
The Oregon Department of Forestry stages a vehicle at the Gales Creek Fire Station on Tuesday, August 27 2019. Photo: Chas Hundley “We’re looking at our worst fire danger of the year,” said Oregon Department of Forestry Forest Grove District Forester Mike Cafferata in a phone call with the Gales[Read More…]
Fire danger will move to ‘High’ Thursday morning
ODF offices in Forest Grove. Photo: Chas Hundley NW OREGON – Temperatures are expected to soar into the upper 90’s this weekend, according to the Portland branch of the National Weather Service, and the Oregon Department of Forestry will place much of the region on “High” fire danger beginning Thursday,[Read More…]
Stream restoration projects continue on Gales Creek in Tillamook Forest
Garrett Armstrong of ODF climbs a steep embankment to plant a Western red cedar tree in the bank. Photo: ODF GALES CREEK – Over the past two years, staff from the Oregon Department of Forestry and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife have planted 1,000 western red cedars along[Read More…]
Inmate who escaped work crew in June back in custody
South Fork Forest Camp entrance in November 2017. Photo: Chas Hundley Brandon Sykes, 35, the inmate who walked away from a South Fork Forest Camp work crew on Monday, June 22 is back in custody. According to a media release from the Oregon Department of Corrections and another from the Tillamook[Read More…]
Fire season begins statewide
ODF offices in Forest Grove. Photo: Chas Hundley OREGON – Fire season began July 1 for the Gales Creek area beginning July 1, and as of Monday, July 6, the rest of the state’s ODF protected lands have followed suit, according to the Oregon Department of Forestry. ODF’s Southwest Oregon[Read More…]
Region to officially enter fire season July 1
A Forest Grove Fire & Rescue vehicle stationed at the Gales Creek Fire Station. Photo: Chas Hundley NW OREGON – The Oregon Department of Forestry announced that the Northwest Oregon Forest Protective Association region, which includes much of the regions of Gales Creek, Buxton, Timber, Manning, and the Tillamook State[Read More…]