Thinning in Eastern Oregon forests improves landscape resiliency, researchers say

BURNS — Mechanical thinning is helping to improve the health and resiliency of seasonally dry forests in Eastern Oregon, according to research by Oregon State University.

For the last decade, a team of scientists led by James Johnston, assistant professor in the College of Forestry at OSU, has trekked into a rugged area of the Malheur National Forest north of Burns to study the environmental effects of one thinning project.