Gibson Insect & Disease Project
Gibson Prairie has been significantly altered as a result of past forest management practices, fire exclusion, and grazing. Conifer encroachment has impacted the unique meadow ecosystem, and there are currently high levels of insect and forest disease throughout the area.
The purpose of the Gibson Insect and Disease Project is to restore forest resiliency and to prepare the forests for future disturbances including wildfire and drought. Drought-stress increases the risk of insect outbreaks, and can lead to high levels of tree mortality. The project will be implemented through a combination of thinning and prescribed burning.
Image of a stand proposed for restoration treatments in the Gibson Insect and Disease Project. Overstocked forests increase risks associated with climate change including insects, disease, and high-severity wildfire.
The Hood River Forest Collaborative worked with the Mt. Hood National Forest to provide recommendations to the Mt. Hood National Forest to promote forest resilience, retain the largest and healthiest trees, and restore aspen stands in the project area. The collaborative is also working with the Forest Service to improve wildlife habitat near the meadow complex by removing derelict grazing infrastructure and old barbed wire in the Long Prairie Grazing Allotment.
The Gibson Project is part of a larger landscape resilience and wildfire risk reduction project being coordinated in partnership with adjacent landowners. Fire doesn’t respect landownership boundaries, and cross-boundary fuels reduction treatments are critical to reducing risk of fire threatening nearby irrigation infrastructure, critical habitat, and The Dalles Drinking Watershed.
The Government Flats Fire (2013) burned more than 11,000 acres immediately adjacent to the Gibson Insect and Disease Project. The fire created large areas of overstory mortality, killing all of the trees, which is uncharacteristic in these types of dry forest ecosystems.
To learn more about the Gibson Insect and Disease Project visit the Mt. Hood National Forest website here.
