Metolius fire treatment plan offered

The Forest Service hopes to create open stands that are resistant to catastrophic wildfire. Photo provided

News reports seem to conjure up an image of vast destruction: the Forest Service plans to "log and burn 17,000 acres of National Forest land northwest of Sisters...." according to a recent Associated Press story.

The actual plan calls for fire treatment and forest health measures similar to those already being employed throughout the Sisters region.

In a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) released last week, the Forest Service produced over 600 pages of information to satisfy the paperwork requirements for managing this important forestland. The novel-sized document has been reduced to a 36-page summary which is available at the local ranger station.

The Forest Service looked at the impact of five different courses of action and adopted an alternative that they say offers the most balanced approach.

According to the EIS, 82 percent of the project area has forest densities that are not sustainable, and "approximately 97 percent of the area is at risk of moderate to high severity wildfire."

Under the plan, three quarters of the project area, or approximately 12,600 acres, are slated for some form of treatment.

Much has been learned about forest management over the past 80 years, and the report cites the past decades of fire suppression as leading to a dangerous buildup of dead forest vegetation.

The role of the fire cycle in a ponderosa forest is now better understood, and the Forest Service wants to create a more natural forest condition.

Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth, described the problem by noting that, "Over the last century, trees have grown much faster than the amount removed from all of the fires, harvest and mortality combined." The result is a forest health situation that the Forest Service says must be addressed.

The Metolius Project is hardly new.

According to Forest Service ecologist Maret Pajutee, the plan has been in the works for some time.

"This is a community-driven project," she said. "We went into this because the community asked us to, and we've been working on it for two years."

Pajutee described the process as one involving community-based stewardship with guidance and input from a broad spectrum of people with interests in the region.

She listed participants as concerned citizens, industry representatives, members of the local community and "lots of other people who share an interest in stewardship of the area and what that means for the future."

Forest Service policy generally tries to balance the concept of wildland preservation with that of a sustainable yield of forest products managed agriculturally.

According to the Forest Service, the planned forest treatment is necessary to insure the success of both forest management goals.

The EIS states that forest health has declined to the point where the accumulation of combustible fuels is severe enough to threaten even the old growth ponderosa pines that would normally be resistant to natural low-intensity fires.

The community of Camp Sherman lies at the geographical center of all this, and the safety of people, homes, and recreational facilities is also deemed to be at risk.

The Forest Service plan calls for different areas to be treated differently, as circumstances dictate.

"The Metolius is special place," said Pajutee, "and we're trying different approaches."

In its most basic sense, the plan put forth by the Forest Service involves tree thinning combined with mowing and underburning of the forest floor.

The goal is to reduce tree density and dangerous amounts of combustible vegetation.

The plan would allow thinning of some trees up to 21 inches in diameter (25 inches for white fir).

Most of the trees subject to removal are, of course, much smaller; and it is not yet known whether the project will generate financially viable timber sales.

The current permit process and environmental challenges have kept the National Forest harvest levels far below the goals set by the Northwest Forest Plan.

Some environmentalists, meanwhile, maintain that the forest health and wildfire prevention projects are merely ruses to permit more logging.

Since the majority of trees to be removed are "small stuff," local forest officials are exploring cost-effective methods of achieving the project's overall goals, which include protection of the area's aesthetic values.

"People treasure the Metolius," Pajutee said, "and want to see the wildfire risk reduced without the loss of the area's special qualities that include big trees, clean water and the diversity of plants and wildlife that people enjoy."

After two years of work, the project is slated to get underway next year.

"It's been a very complicated and difficult analysis because of the special qualities of the Metolius," said Pajutee.

"For many people, it's a spiritual place. It's a designated Wild and Scenic River, one of Oregon's most popular recreation areas and important to the tribes, as well."

The Forest Service has set up a website with information on the project at www.fs.fed.us/r6/centraloregon/index-metolius. Or call 549-7730.

A public meeting about the project is scheduled for Saturday, January 18, from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Camp Sherman Community Hall.

The public is invited to comment on what they like and don't like about the proposal. An informational field trip will follow.

The deadline for submitted comments on the proposal is February 15, 2003.