News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
The U.S. Forest Service is ready to launch a major project to protect forests in the Metolius Basin.
The agency announced its chosen alternative last week for the 12,500-acre Metolius Basin Forest Management Project, after years of planning and public discussion.
The project is significant for a number of reasons - not least of which is the deep love so many people have for the region surrounding Camp Sherman.
People love the big trees and pristine waters of the Metolius Basin, Sisters District Ranger Bill Anthony noted. Many families cherish generations of memories of camping trips and vacations in the area.
"It's a place that's at risk," Anthony said.
The risks are twofold. The area is vulnerable to wildfire - as was pointedly demonstrated this summer and last.Though neither the Link Fire nor the Cache Mountain Fire got into the project area, the blazes pointed up the vulnerability of the Metolius Basin.
Anthony said the project area is loaded with fire fuels and that studies show that 97 percent of the area is at risk from wildfire.
Some of the same conditions that create wildfire risk also create health problems.
According to Anthony, 82 percent of the area has higher densities of trees than can be sustained.
"That's like a person being overweight," Anthony said.
The "overweight" condition makes the forest unhealthy and vulnerable to disease and insect infestation.
The Forest Service explored five alternatives for the project before settling on a modified version of its "Alternative 3."
The chosen alternative includes thinning, underburning, larch and aspen restoration efforts and meadow enhancement.
The decision came after an unusually thorough public involvement process.
Anthony frankly acknowledged that the high profile and sensitive nature of the area caused the agency to make extra efforts to involve the public.
"It was not business as usual on planning this project," he said.
One of the most unique features of the public involvement process was a shared project with Friends of the Metolius, a locally-based stewardship group. The organization shared costs with the Forest Service to create a demonstration project in the Camp Sherman area that offered on-the-ground examples of different types of forest treatment, including thinning, underburning, mowing - even doing nothing.
"Hundreds if not a couple thousand people have been to that demo project area and seen the different types of treatment," Anthony said.
A citizens' advisory committee also participated in discussions on the project.
As expected, one of the most sensitive issues involved in the project is the size of trees to be cut in thinning procedures.
"... the size of trees removed (or left) to accomplish the project objectives has been one of the most discussed social issues throughout the project planning process," the project's Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) stated. "It was a key issue raised by the public from the beginning..."
Alternative 3 - Modified, caps the size of trees to be removed at 16 inches with some exceptions for white fir trees (up to 25 inches in some case).
The EIS emphasized that the vast majority of trees removed will be smaller than eight inches in diameter, because there is a great preponderance of trees that size in the project area.
While there is a range of opinion among the public as to how to treat the area, there is a broad consensus that something needs to be done, Anthony noted.
The scale of the project gives the Forest Service an opportunity to thoroughly treat and protect a large area instead of simply trying to create some fuel breaks in the forest to stave off catastrophic wildfire, gaining some small health benefits as they go.
"With this (project) we have a chance to get in front of it before we lose it," Anthony said.
Anthony said the Forest Service has done everything possible to tailor the project to the needs of the forest and the desires of those who live in and visit the region. He hopes regional and national groups who often oppose any forest projects do not attempt to derail a plan that has such broad local support.
"I'm putting the burden on groups who are tending to appeal everything we do because they have a philosophical disagreement as to what is appropriate on national forests," he said. "We are poised and ready to begin treatment."
Anthony noted that the cost of each aspect of the plan exceeds any revenue to be gained from timber.
The project will be paid for largely through federally appropriated funds, along with some timber sale contracts. This project will benefit from a pilot project that can keep contract sale receipts in the local kitty.
Traditionally, timber sale contract receipts are returned to the national treasury and are parceled out on a national basis. According to Anthony, "stewardship contracts" give the Sisters Ranger District "authority to sell that material and keep the receipts for that for other work locally."
The pace of the project will depend on funding. Anthony expects the project to take about five years to complete.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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