News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The salvage logging slated for the Santiam Corridor between the Santiam Pass and the Suttle Lake curve on Highway 20, is an effort modify what the Forest Service fears is extreme fire danger and to restore the overgrown, blighted forest area to a sustainable condition.
Several treatment alternatives have been suggested by the Forest Service. The preferred alternative calls for the commercial harvest of about 1,800 acres and over 2,000 acres of firewood extraction, pre-commercial thinning, slash removal and underburning. Two timber sales are planned for September totaling 19 million board feet.
This is the second major logging initiative taken by the Forest Service this summer. Nearby Jack Canyon is the site of a 3,400-acre salvage logging project.
The Forest Service says it is acting to undo damage done to the forest by years of mismanagement. Heavy logging of large trees, combined with a policy of absolute fire prevention have allowed stands of new-growth white fir to crowd the old-growth ponderosa pine stands, choking off nutrients and killing many trees.
The Forest Service hopes to restore the area to a more "sustainable" level by creating fire breaks and planting some 800 acres with traditional ponderosa pine and mixed conifer saplings.
Six spotted owl and a bald eagle pair's nesting sites found in the Santiam Corridor area are at risk from the proposed treatment. Another major concern is the sedimentation effect the logging will have on Suttle and Blue Lakes.
But outweighing these concerns, planners say, is the fear that the approximately 3,000 to 4,000 people who occupy the recreation areas daily along Highway 20 would be in serious danger if a wildfire broke out.
The decision to cut in this area falls under the Recision Act and is therefore not subject to appeal. The Forest Service, however, held two public inquiries last spring to gather opinions about the project. Most respondents favored removal of dead and dying trees to increase the scenic quality. The declining sale value of the dead timber was also a pressing concern.
The Santiam corridor project is in the final planning stages. There will be a 20-day public comment period from July 18 to August 6, after which the Forest Service will finalize a treatment proposal and move to sell the timber. Comments can be sent to Sandy Hurlocker at the Sisters Ranger District.
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