Brother entrepreneur duo spearheads decades-long lumber project to protect future forests: 'Our approach is holistic'

As wildfires become more frequent and intense, two brothers in Colville, Washington, are tackling two issues to help: making forests more fire-resilient and the lumber industry more sustainable, KHQ News reported. 

Kurtis and Russ Vaagen both grew up in Colville, and the lumber company Kurtis runs, Vaagen Bros Lumber, was founded 75 years ago by his grandfather. He now leads a project to sustainably restore 50,000 acres of the Colville National Forest to make it more resilient to worsening forest fires. 

"We're either going to manage it, or Mother Nature's gonna do it for us," Kurtis says in a video interview with KHQ. 

The company bid on the contract, the A to Z Forest Restoration Project, over a decade ago, emphasizing sustainability and the creation of future forests. It takes certain conditions for wildfires to start and spread, and one part of the project is thinning out the forest of smaller trees to limit a fire's fuel source and help prevent wildfires from spreading. 

Kurtis says this thinning differs from clear-cutting and is crucial to saving the forest. 

"What we're witnessing now are these mega-fires that don't subside, burning through canopy across hundreds of thousands of acres," he told KHQ.

Wildfires are made worse by rising global temperatures caused in large part by human activity, so it's fitting that human actions will also help lower rising temperatures and stop wildfires from continuing to worsen. 

Kurtis told KHQ that one of the main reasons he wants to preserve the forest is "to ensure the forest can withstand natural disturbances and create a forest that has a positive impact for people to enjoy."

Aside from being enjoyable, spending time in nature also offers major mental and physical health benefits. Healthy forests also greatly help reduce Earth's warming as trees, especially old-growth forests, absorb loads of planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 

As far as the trees they cut down, Kurtis said they make some kind of product out of every segment of the logs.  

His brother Russ established Vaagen Timbers in Colville, focusing on creating natural products to compete against energy-intensive alternatives. 

He told KHQ, "Our approach is holistic, from the forest to the final product." 

"By using mass timber from forest restoration materials, we're reducing air pollution and contributing to a cleaner, healthier environment," Kurtis emphasized. 

As individuals, actions can be taken to stop rising temperatures and help protect forests for generations to come. Talking to friends and family about climate issues, voting for pro-climate candidates, and changing how you get around are good places to start. 

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