Salvage logging underway on timber burned in B&B Complex Fire

One hundred forty nine acres of Deschutes National Forest land burned in the B&B Complex Fire last summer is being salvaged starting this week.

The Sisters Ranger District signed a contract Thursday, April 22, to sell 1.2 million board feet of trees to a logging company. The sale area, called "Lower Jack," is located 13 miles northwest of Sisters, between Forest Service road 1230 and the Metolius River.

The contract is with Brewer and Brewer Inc. of Fall Creek, Oregon. The company purchased the dead and severely burned trees for $77,380, according to Bob Flores, natural resources team leader for the Sisters Ranger District.

Brewer and Brewer Inc. will sell the wood to lumber mills.

The price is significantly less than the initial contract, which was for $220,000 to purchase six million board feet of saw timber and non-saw timber. The initial contract was made before the B&B Complex Fire burned the sale area and covered an additional 71,000 acres of the Sisters Ranger District.

The initial sale contract was part of a "stocking reduction" project, which was intended to thin smaller trees so the larger trees could grow, Flores said.

From 4.4 to 12 partially dead trees per acre are being left for wildlife habitat (snags), Flores said. Only trees with more than 50 percent mortality are for sale, he said.

Flores said there needs to be at least 2,000 board feet per acre available to make a viable sale.

"They're going to take all the dead not required for snag habitat," Flores said. "Most of these areas are pretty well baked, so there are not many trees left."

Bill Anthony, Sisters District Ranger, was able to sign the contract using Category 13, a new "categorical exclusion authority" under President George W. Bush's Healthy Forest Initiative.

This contract marked the first time Sisters Forest District has used Category 13, which allows the Forest Service to immediately salvage burned trees on less than 250 acres.

Federal officials in Oregon and Washington used Category 13 on 32 sales last year.

Category 13 also limits the amount of road construction during the project, but Flores said there will be no new roads built for the Lower Jack Re-Offer Timber Sale.

According to a press release, the Forest Service solicited comments on the project in February and received 11 responses: eight indicated support. Concern was over the loss of trees over 21 inches in diameter and the effect of road building and logging on the soil conditions.

Flores said he is not aware of any threat of litigation or opposition to the project at this time.

Flores said the Forest Service awarded the contract immediately to Brewer and Brewer Inc., because it is a local company and would be a quicker process than bidding for outside companies.

"If we awarded a contract to an outside company, it could be several months before they start logging," Flores said.

"It could be a three- to four-month difference. Waiting for material can lose a lot of value. In six months, (a dying or dead tree) loses 40 percent of its value (because of deterioration)."

In contrast, Flores said it will take another 12 to 16 months just to complete the Environmental Impact Study for the B&B Complex Project, which has too much land to fit under Category 13 . Flores said Forest Service workers have estimated as much as 60 million board feet could be salvaged.

But with opposition from the environmentalists, and the time it will take to complete the environmental impact process, Flores said there is no way to tell how many trees, if any, will be salvaged.

"We are dedicating people solely to the B&B project to get on it as fast as possible," Flores said. "We're putting our resource specialist -- the head of the programs -- from on and off district on it. That is how much of a priority the B&B project is."

In other business, the Sisters Forest District also plans to sign a contract with Melcher Logging of Sweet Home. This contract would also be signed under Category 13, and would be to salvage an estimated 800,000 board feet in a 100-plus acre sale area in "Coil Fiber," which is near Suttle Lake.

The Forest Service had initially contracted with the company for 2.5 million board feet before the fires.

The price had been $244,000, or $31.89 per cubic feet of board (CCF).