10 COLLEGE OF FORESTRY FIRE ON PURPOSE Learning, restoration and the Woodpecker Harvest Last October, during the mid-morning hours in the McDonald-Dunn Research Forest, low flames moved deliberately across the forest floor as students from the College of Forestry carried out a prescribed burn just minutes from OSU’s Corvallis campus. Surrounded by nearby homes and communities, the burn required not only ecological analysis, but multi-stakeholder planning and clear communication. Leading the effort was Associate Professor John Punches, an OSU Extension educator with more than 30 years of experience. His fire practicum is an elective course that attracts upper level undergraduate and graduate students who choose to be there, drawn by a desire to understand fire not just as a concept or theory, but as a practical tool. “I want students to have opportunities to actually engage with fire,” Punches said. “Not just learn about it, but do it.” Punches emphasized the need for handson learning and professional advancement opportunities for burn practitioners as well as the value of giving the public firsthand experience with prescribed fire. “Media often teaches us that fire is scary, but with prescribed fire it’s common to see flames only about a foot high,” Punches said. “You can literally stand in the fire and talk to students. Most of the time, fire is fascinating — not frightening.” The burn took place within two small units of the recently completed Woodpecker Harvest on the McDonald-Dunn Research Forest. Mark Swanson, interim director of the OSU Research Forests, identified the sites for their ecological restoration potential. One unit focused on releasing Oregon white oak and Pacific madrone, while another targeted a stand of fire-adapted Willamette Valley ponderosa pine. Historically, much of the Willamette Valley supported oak woodlands and ponderosa pine, maintained by frequent, low-intensity fire purposefully and intentionally set by Indigenous peoples. Decades without fire have allowed dense understory growth and Douglas-fir domination to take hold in the McDonald-Dunn Research Forest and throughout the Willamette Valley. Carefully planned prescribed fire can help reverse those trends, improving wildlife habitat, reducing fuel loads and creating a more diverse, open and resilient forest structure. Students spent the term developing multiple burn plans, learning how to assess fuels, manage fire intensity, and design contingency and emergency response plans. Final approval from the Oregon Department of Forestry came the afternoon before ignition, underscoring how narrow burn windows can be — especially in smoke-sensitive areas like the Willamette Valley. Because the forest is surrounded by residential neighborhoods, communication was as critical as ignition. College of Forestry staff conducted
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