Forest Service will salvage B&B timber

The B&B Complex Fire ravaged a 90,000-acre area west of Sisters in 2003. The Forest Service plans to harvest timber, reduce fuels and plant new trees on some 6,803 acres of the fire area.

A decision to implement the Forest Service’s “preferred alternative” for the recovery of the fire area was made Tuesday, August 2, according to Sisters District Ranger Bill Anthony. Additional action by the Forest Service will allow three timber salvage sales to immediately be announced for bids during the appeal period on that decision.

The alternative selected proposes salvage harvest, fuels reduction, and reforestation on about 6,803 acres in the Metolius Basin area west of Sisters. This is 16 percent of the total project area, and seven percent of the entire burn area. Work will be done in 142 scattered units, Anthony said.

To avoid additional loss of salvage volume and value from the fire-killed timber, Deschutes Forest Supervisor Leslie Weldon requested in early July an Emergency Situation Determination from Stay. Pacific Northwest Regional Forester Linda Goodman approved that request. This will permit the Forest Service to immediately offer three salvage sales to be auctioned on August 9 and awarded August 10.

Delaying sales until after the 105-day appeal period, extended likely into June of 2006 by winter weather conditions, could result in an estimated loss through decay and insects of 15 million board feet of timber with a value of over $1.1 million in revenue, accoring to the Forest Service.

The official Record of Decision follows months of study and planning. The Forest Service issued a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the recovery project on March 4. The public was invited to review five alternatives, including one for taking no action, and to submit comments by April 18.

“We received about 200 comments from individuals and organizations,” Anthony said. “We brought in a special team to carefully read and analyze each comment. Some were a short one-page statement while others were detailed analyses and comments.”

Anthony acknowledges that there is a difference of opinion among foresters, scientists, and environmental organizations on how best to treat a recovery project such as the B&B.

“The Forest Service has 100 years of history and we have been dealing with fires for all of that time, he said. “But the types of fires that we have been having in the past 10 years have been larger than most previous fires and the fires affect more people. So, there is less of a consensus on what you should do after a fire than what to do before a fire starts.”

A major principle guiding the agency’s decision on what to do was what can be done to restore the area into the desired type of forest in the shortest period of time, he added.

Based on this review, the preferred Alternative 2 was selected as the action to follow.

“The one modification that was made to the proposed Alternative 2 was to add three additional miles of roads to be decommissioned and closed for a total of 74 miles,” Anthony explained.

Other specific features of Alternative 2 include:

• Ground-based salvage yarding on 5,867 acres.

• Helicopter yarding on 955 acres.

• Salvage of about 29.7 million board feet of timber.

• Reduction of fuels and reforestation on the 6,823 acres.

• Removal of “danger trees” on 146 miles of haul roads.

• Removal of danger trees and fuels reduction within 20 acres around Round Lake Christian Camp.

Two project actions will require amendments to the Deschutes National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan. One will allow short-term visibility of salvage and fuels treatment work. The other will allow firewood removal within the Metolius Heritage Area.

Only some 44,000 acres of the fires were outside of wilderness and research natural areas and therefore available for salvage logging. Another 30,000 acres was not recommended by Forest Service staff for salvage.