Smoke hovers above Gales Peak on Wednesday, September 9, 2020. Photo: Chas Hundley
Stagnant air a soup of haze, smoke and fog is settling in for the weekend and beyond as a strong inversion traps pollutants in the air, with the potential to cause breathing issues for those already suffering with respiratory problems, the National Weather Service says. While not expected to return to conditions experienced earlier in September caused by wildfire smoke, the effects will likely linger through Monday, October 5.Its bad enough that the NWS in Portland issued whats called a Air Stagnation Advisory on Thursday afternoon for locales in the region under 2,000 feet of elevation, which is scheduled to end 6 p.m. on Monday. A map of current air quality conditions maintained by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality can be seen at https://oraqi.deq.state.or.us/home/map. Data for western Washington County is collected at a station located on the Pacific University campus in Forest Grove, with other stations dotting the region as well. More information on wildfire smoke can be viewed at http://oregonsmoke.blogspot.com. During periods of heavy wildfire smoke, here are some tips compiled by a number of Oregon-based agencies:-- Stay indoors whenever possible with the windows and doors shut.-- Reduce other sources of indoor air pollution such as smoke from tobacco, wood-burning stoves and burning candles.-- Use a high-efficiency (HEPA) or electrostatic precipitating (ESP) air-cleaning filter, if available.-- Avoid vacuuming, which can stir up dust.-- When driving is necessary, drive with windows closed and air conditioning set to recirculate.
A pest that has destroyed over 10 million ash trees across the eastern United States is expected to reach its peak emergence in Oregon this month. First discovered in Oregon in trees growing at Forest Grove's Joseph Gale Elementary School, the insects are expected to devastate Oregon's ash trees.
A pest that has destroyed over 10 million ash trees across the eastern United States is expected to reach its peak emergence in Oregon this month. First discovered in Oregon in trees growing at Joseph Gale Elementary, the insects are expected to devastate Oregon's ash trees.
A vague letter about a timber sale near Astoria started a year-long series of communication breakdowns that resulted in blowups at board of forestry meetings, an $8,000 mediator's bill and one board member—a Forest Grove resident and former Pacific University professor—quitting.
Two recent studies, created independently of each other, that examined the effects of wildfires in Oregon, Washington as well as other parts of the West, found that trees scorched by fire can continue to die for as long as five years after a wildfire.��
A proposed toll road linking Forest Grove and Tillamook faced opposition, but Gales Creek residents would take any road they could get, according to a 1925 newspaper article.
"County Jail Filled to Overflow With Arrests Made" including Ernest Narver, Frank Kearns, Thomas Young, and Roy Kearns, all arrested at Balm Grove on liquor possession charges in Prohibition-era Gales Creek.
People are shooting exploding targets and firing hot lead into dry vegetation in the Tillamook Forest with predictable results: Five wildfires since May. These fires are all preventable, said Acting Forest Grove District Forester Stephanie Beall.
