News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Even as lightning sparks fires across Central Oregon, the Forest Service is set to salvage timber from last summer's lightning-caused GW Fire.
The GW Fire started on August 31 and burned across 7,357 acres, threatening Black Butte Ranch before it was knocked down by a soaking rain.
The Forest Service plans to allow salvage logging of fire-killed timber on 218 acres of the burned area, about 4 percent of the 6,029 acres of National Forest land burned in the fire.
Sisters District Ranger Bill Anthony signed the final decision memo on the project last Friday.
Anthony explained why only a small percentage of the area is being logged.
"We did our best to design the project to avoid any controversial or sensitive resource issues," he said.
All of the area to be logged is designated as "matrix," where timber production is emphasized. There will be no logging in late-successional reserve or in riparian areas or on steep slopes.
Despite its small scale, the project has not escaped controversy.
Asante Riverwind, Eastern Oregon Forest Organizer of the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club argued that the project is driven by "timber economics" and that more trees should be left for wildlife habitat.
Anthony argues that extra care was taken to ensure that there would be no adverse impact on wildlife, including the Spotted Owl.
"We've been doing owl calls, even though we wouldn't ordinarily do calls here," he said.
There were no responses, indicating that there are no Spotted Owls in the area, Anthony said.
Anthony feels that the amount of dead trees the project will leave could pose problems down the line as they age and fall and create fuel for a future blaze.
"We will have an excess of deadwood habitat over what we would normally have or what we need," he said. "It's going to create some problems. Unfortunately, that's where we're at today."
Anthony said some 15 to 20 people worked many months to design the project and he feels it is as solid a project as can be devised in the face of strong opposition to salvage logging practices by some environmental groups.
"I'd have to say, if not here, where?" he said.
Anthony sought and received an emergency designation that will allow the project to move forward even as expected appeals are filed. He said the emergency lies in the lateness of the season.
Late heavy snows delayed the timber cruising on the project and pushed potential logging operations back into the heat of the year.
"Soon as it starts heating up, you start getting deterioration," he said.
The sale goes to auction on July 8. Depending on fire conditions, logging equipment should move into the area within days of the award of the bid.
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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