USFS seeks comment on salvage

Deschutes National Forest officials are seeking comment on a proposal for salvage logging, reforestation and fuels treatment on portions of the forest burned in the Eyerly Fire.

The blaze occurred 20 miles north of Sisters in July 2002 on the Sisters Ranger District and scorched 23,573 acres.

The draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) analyzes three alternatives in detail. Alternative one would lead to no action, while two and three propose different levels of salvage logging, reforestation and fuels treatment.

The DEIS describes the effect of logging operations on ground cover and soil productivity, compaction and erosion.

It also addresses water quality concerns that include the potential for sediment delivery into Spring, Street and Lower Fly Creeks, and the Metolius River. The streams are important habitat to bull trout and red band trout.

All alternatives leave enough standing snag and down wood debris to sustain dependent species and include replanting treated areas, according to the Forest Service.

Forest Service officials identified alternative two as the preferred alternative because the level of salvage timber harvested would best meet the project need of recovering value from fire-killed and damaged trees.

Salvage logging under alternative two would occur on 4,877 acres, which is about 21 percent of the Eyerly Fire area. Salvage operations are not proposed on the remaining 79 percent.

Alternative two proposes to harvest 23.4 million board feet of burned timber from areas east of Green Ridge and south of Lake Billy Chinook, and includes utilization of small-diameter timber products such as posts, rails and house logs on 552 acres.

Officials estimate the net value of timber harvested under the preferred alternative to be $2.07 million. That should provide $2.28 million in wages to 130 people, according to the Forest Service.

Salvage activity under this alternative would be prohibited within 320 feet of fish-bearing streams, and 160 feet of perennial and seasonal streams without fish. The minimum diameter of most salvaged Ponderosa pine trees would be 14 inches and 12 inches for Douglas fir.

Logging operations would principally utilize existing roads. However, an estimated three miles of temporary roads would be built and later obliterated under the preferred alternative, the Forest Service reported.

To view the draft visit www.fs.fed.us/r6/centraloregon/projects/units/sisters/eyerly/eyerly-eis.shtml.