The effects of people on west-side forests can 

 be lessened several ways. As the population 

 in the Northwest grows, the following remedial 

 or preventive actions become ever more cru- 

 cial to forest health: 



• Reduce air pollution through a variety of 

 strategies and new technology so that produc- 

 tion of ozone and other pollutants that dam- 

 age forests can be reduced or, at the very least, 

 not increased. 



• Maintain programs to monitor and eradi- 

 cate exotic pests, and to prevent new introduc- 

 tions. Where exotics already are established, 

 prevention activities, such as the resistance 

 breeding program for white pine blister rust, 

 are crucial to the survival of native tree spe- 

 cies. 



• Plant and care for trees and other vegeta- 

 tion in urban areas. Use species adapted to 

 the local climate and able to withstand stresses 

 associated with an urban environment. 



• Manage for hazards such as fire, decay, 

 and root disease in urban-forest interfaces. 



The white pine blister rust resistance breeding program in 

 Cottage Grove, Oregon, inoculates l^iousands of white pine 

 and sugar pine seedlings with blister rust to find a few 

 resistant individuals that can be propagated. 



Urban tree selection and care are important to 

 ensure longevity and safety of community trees. 



SOUTHWEST OREGON 



Conditions and changes in distur- 

 bance patterns over the past century 

 in southwest Oregon share similari- 

 ties with both eastern and western 

 Oregon and Washington. The effects 

 of fire suppression and past harvest- 

 ing influenced and changed current 

 vegetation conditions, much as they 

 did east of the Cascades. Memy sites 

 are overstocked, prone to insect out- 

 breaks, and have high fire hazard. A 

 period of drought in the late 1980s 

 and early 1990s, coupled with over- 

 stocking, contributed to susceptibil- 

 ity to insects, disease, and fire. Ex- 

 otic diseases, such as white pine 

 blister rust and Port-Orford-cedar 

 root disease, have had significant ef- 

 fects on five-needled pines and Port- 

 Orford-cedar, respectively, and their 

 management. Strategies for improv- 

 ing forest health are similar to those 

 for eastern and western Oregon and 

 Washington. 



The Future— 84 



