Thinning is essentially “gardening” the forest–selecting which trees are winners and which are losers. Photo by George Wuerthner.

A new study published in the journal Forest Ecology and Management “Significant mortality of old trees across a dry forest landscape, Oregon,” found that older larch and ponderosa pine are suffering increased death rates.

The main author, James Johnston, formerly at Oregon State University Forestry School, now at the University of Oregon’s Institute for Resilient Organizations, Communities, and Environments, found that between 2012 and 2023, a quarter of trees more than 300 years old in roadless areas he had previously studied had died. He attributes the decline to drought, insects and competition with other trees.

There’s nothing surprising in these findings, since eastern Oregon has suffered extreme drought for years. The climate is both drier and hotter—likely due to human-caused climate change.

What you do about this, if anything, is where there is debate.

Johnston suggests his research shows that we need “active management”........

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