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Many researchers, Buhl included, are now arguing that these drought-driven die-offs are the beginning of a much larger and long-predicted shift in tree growing ranges due to climate change.
Christine Buhl, a forest health specialist for the Oregon Department of Forestry, plunges a tool called an increment borer into the dead tree’s trunk. Twisting the handle of the corkscrew-like borer, Buhl extracts a long, thin sample of the tree’s inner growth rings. The rings become thinner over time, indicating the tree’s growth slowed before the tree finally died, a sign that this red cedar, like thousands of others in Oregon and Washington, died from drought.
Fir trees in Oregon and Washington died in record-breaking numbers in 2022, according to research conducted by the U.S. Forest Service.
Aerial surveys led by the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon Department of Forestry indicated record high mortality for fir trees in 2022, particularly in areas of central and southern Oregon
Aerial surveys led by the U.S. Forest Service and Oregon Department of Forestry indicated record high mortality for fir trees in 2022, particularly in areas of central and southern Oregon