Pollywog Insect and Disease Project

The Pollywog Insect and Disease Project is a forest restoration effort on Mt. Hood National Forest aimed at reducing tree death and improving forest health. Due to decades of fire suppression, past management practices, and grazing, the forest in this area has become overly dense and more vulnerable to insects, diseases, and high-severity wildfire. These conditions have created stress on trees, making them less resilient and allowing pests like bark beetles, root rot, and mistletoe to spread more easily.

To address this, the Forest Service is using a streamlined process allowed under federal law to treat up to 3,000 acres in high-risk areas. The goal is to thin overly crowded stands, reduce wildfire risk, and make the forest more resistant to insect outbreaks and disease. No permanent roads will be built, and old-growth trees through the implementation of thin from below silvicultural prescriptions. The project was developed through collaboration with the Wasco County Forest Collaborative and local partners and uses the best available science to guide its actions.

Map of treatments included in the Pollywog Insect and Disease Project.

The Pollywog decision outlines the Forest Service’s plan to improve forest health and reduce insect and disease threats across about 2,950 acres in the Mt. Hood National Forest. The project will focus on thinning overly dense stands of trees to give the largest, healthiest ones—especially legacy ponderosa pine and Oregon white oak—more room to grow.

Using a mix of methods like commercial thinning (where wood is removed and sold), non-commercial thinning (by hand or small machines), and fuels treatments (like brush clearing, pile burning, or prescribed fire), the Forest Service aims to bring tree density down to healthier levels of about 80 to 100 trees per acre. This will make the forest more resilient to drought, insects, and disease.

No old-growth stands will be treated, and efforts will be made to avoid harming large or ecologically important trees. The treatments are designed to support long-term forest health and reduce the risk of major insect outbreaks or wildfires.

An overstocked stand proposed for forest health treatments on the Barlow Ranger District. Past forest management practices and fire suppression have led to overstocked, unhealthy forests across much of the east zone of Mt. Hood National Forest.

This project is part of a larger, cross-boundary strategy to restore forest health, slow tree mortality, and prevent future outbreaks of insects and disease. The project was developed in partnership with the Wasco County Forest Collaborative and public comments.

To learn more about the Pollywog Insect and Disease Project visit the Mt. Hood National Forest website here.