Logging proposed on Pole Creek burn

The Sisters Ranger District hopes to log 17 acres near the Pole Creek Trailhead about 10 miles southwest of Sisters. The agency plans to log only dead or dying trees, but at least one local environmental group is concerned.

Last June 18, a wildfire swept through the 17 acre area. The Forest Service believes it can log 150,000 board feet of fire-damaged timber without harming the environment. After logging, the agency will plant seedlings in an attempt to re-forest the area.

Paul Dewey, of the Sisters Forest Planning Committee, expressed concerns that the project might actually cut live trees.

"The Sisters Forest Planning Committee has generally been supportive of small scale projects," Dewey said.

But, referring to the Forest Service's letter to the public detailing its proposal to log the 17 acres, he noted, "when the agency refers to fire-killed timber, but talks about things like retaining trees with more than twenty percent of live crown, we are suddenly faced with the prospect of removal of live trees."

Alan Heath of the Sisters Ranger District said, "The overstory trees that will be removed are all dead or will be dead within three years. We are leaving all green [live] trees, although not those burned by the fire facing a significant danger of mortality."

Heath explained that the agency predicts which trees will die according to the how much of the tree's crown remains after fire damage. Trees with 20 percent or more of their crowns will not be logged. He said that crown scorch is the most reliable estimate of damage to the tree.

Dewey asserted, "Trees with 20 percent live crown may still be around for years. This criteria indicates the Forest Service may be logging a fair amount of old growth."

Dewey claimed that timber sales using the 20 percent live crown criteria "have been abused in the past," and that there is potential for abuse in the determination of what percent of a tree's crown remains living.

Heath said the Sisters Ranger District plans to leave standing and down burned timber as plant and animal habitat.

"We realize that the large, understory component is an important part of ecological processes, and we will be leaving one hundred percent of the quantity called for in land management plans," Heath said.

Dewey believes that the Forest Service may not be leaving enough standing burned trees, or snags.

Although the agency plans to leave "100 percent of maximum population potential" as habitat, Dewey said, "That is troubling because so often in logging operations about one-third of these snags are knocked down by the end of the sale."

Heath also points out that timber production is part of the Forest Service's goals in that area.

"The fire was in a management area identified as 'matrix,' in the Northwest Forest Plan," Heath said. "In matrix, timber production is one of the objectives as well as maintaining the success of the forest."

The agency does not plan to log one of the acres burned by the Pole Creek fire which is in an area designated as more ecologically sensitive.

If the Forest Service proceeds with the sale and subsequent replanting, soil and vegetation will be disturbed, and stumps and the newly-planted seedlings will be visible for a while. In the long-run, the agency hopes the seedlings and natural vegetation will grow, creating a two-storied stand around a few remaining ponderosa pine trees.

The 17 acre project area is not visible from roads or major trails.

Heath hopes a timber sale will be finalized before this winter.

"The timber is far more valuable if harvested this year." He said. "Otherwise it can lose up to about 50 percent of its value."

He said the agency wants to be able to begin replanting in the spring of 1998, before it would have to deal with competing grasses and vegetation.

Written comments should be directed to Heath at the Sisters Ranger District, PO Box 249, in Sisters. The public comment period runs through October 10.