Oswald West State park may close due to accident
The Oswald West State park my close the rotting trees for camping in the Oregon. Last month, there was a camper who was a victim of falling trees or hazard and it isn’t certain if it will re-open to camping. The accident was not happened in park but the victim was found in the park. Idaho camper Derrick Stiegemeier said he understood but was disappointed.
David Harris, 21 year old, was found dead of head injuries on a trail a few miles, from a fallen limb. Almost 300 years old the inside of the tree, had rotted. Last June, the park was full, the 100-foot tall Sitka spruce, 11 feet thick fell just steps from a campsite but there were no injuries.
Chris Havel, state parks spokesman said “There is risk everywhere, that’s part of being outdoors”. Oswald West State Park, a popular outdoor or recreational destination, almost 1 million visitors to its trails yearly around 15,000 camp overnight. Since 2000, the state forestry crews have checked 24 campgrounds to reduce the risk.
Oregon governor will help to make Oregon beaches public property, sits in a thick old forest in despite of Oswald Forest. Havel said “You have the perfect storm of conditions at Os West. The trees are older, and people are right among them”.
State arborist Andy Smogor will inspect every tree in the campground that cause damage or injury if it fell but State must decide if the campground will reopen to campers or remain a day use only. Smogor check for sign which could mean the tree hast started to lean, sign of upheavel. A sign of rot within, and for conks, the fruit that grows from fungus inside the tree.
Sitka spruce, it looks perfect. There were six conks each a foot wide. With conks that size and that many the old tree be rotten inside. When you hit a decayed area or cavity, it basically sounds drum like. When you see interior decay of the tree, as the probe disappeared a full foot into a rotting trunk, this is the scary part because you don’t know how much sound wood remains in the circumference of the trunk.
Smogor has identified 40 to 50 trees that have some defect and has hundreds more to go. Havel said “We generally only remove weak trees that are both in peril of falling and will likely hit a person or property when they go. A dead or damaged standing tree still plays an important role in the forest — as a place for birds to nest, for example. This is also why we try to leave trees on the ground when they fall in a natural area”.
When Smogor done in all checking, Havel will recommend what the stat should do. It must be remove certain trees, reconfigure campsites or end all camping. But the public will have input before a decision is made.
Hi there:
I’d like to make a small correction about this story. A large spruce did indeed fall at Os West, but no one was injured. The individual found dead was not at Os West and there’s no evidence he was camping. In fact, no one is even sure he was killed by a falling tree branch. He was found on a trail several miles from the park.
Having said that, there’s no doubt that old, weakened or diseased trees can pose a hazard to hikers and campers. That’s one reason we closed the campground at Os West; to conduct a thorough analysis of the risks.