Thaw stalls Glaze Forest restoration

After many years of planning, and more than a year of just waiting, the landmark Glaze Forest Restoration Project finally got underway last month - only to be halted last week by unfavorable weather conditions.

The work suspension was not on account of severe winter weather. In fact, it was just the opposite. Temperatures were too warm to continue the delicate work in the forest.

Because of the ecological sensitivity of important riparian lands and rare plants within the boundaries of the project, sub-freezing temperatures that create a hard surface on the forest floor are a must for this project.

Forest Service District Ecologist, Maret Pajutee, explained, "Some of the logging is close to Indian Ford Creek, and we're worried about sediment and Peck's penstemon." This rare species of penstemon is found only in the local area. A solidly frozen ground surface permits traffic over the area with minimal damage to the soils and plants.

In addition to taking advantage of frozen ground, logging contractor Scott Melcher and soils scientists worked out an even lighter impact method of cutting using "ghost trails." This process involves a single pass over the ground with a machine to cut trees and the use of another machine to reach into that area to extract the trees without traveling over the same route again.

Like other ongoing projects in the area, the Glaze project will lower the risk of wildfire by reducing potential fire fuels in the forest. In all, Forest Service officials estimate that 1.6 million board feet of timber will be removed from the 1,200-acre project area. Wildfire danger will be further reduced by the eventual reintroduction of low-intensity prescribed burning.

The main goal of the project, however, is to restore the forest to a pre-logging-era, old-growth forest condition. More than a third of the project area was clear-cut in the 1930s and contains second-growth ponderosa pines that will be groomed toward an old-growth outcome.

Another third of the project contains many surviving old-growth trees, and that area will also be thinned of smaller trees to enhance the existing old growth. Trees in excess of 21 inches in diameter will not be cut. Trees in the 16- to 21-inch range all received special scrutiny in the decisions leading up to the actual cutting.

Sisters District Ranger Bill Anthony said that the vast majority of the trees to be removed are less than eight inches in diameter. The remaining third of the project area consists of meadow and aspen groves, which will also be subject to enhancement by selective removal of encroaching, competing vegetation.

To ensure diverse habitat, the project also employs a new technique, pioneered by the Deschutes Land Trust, called "mosaic thinning." This process results in a finished forest which resembles historic forests with gaps, clumps, snags, atypical "character trees," and patches of trees of different ages. The end result is a forest of varied appearance, rather than one with a homogenous parklike look.

What makes this project remarkable is the extraordinary level of review and cooperation among multiple interests that went into the overall planning process.

"This project," Pajutee said, "is groundbreaking collaboration. We agreed to listen more, fight less, try new things, and make the process as transparent as possible. We share a passion for the forest in general and the Glaze area in particular, with its old-growth pine, meadows, aspen and creek."

Pajutee said the cooperative process used for this project brought together traditional foes in forest usage and carved out common ground. She said the goal was to "move the conversation forward, break barriers of mistrust, and create a template on how people with diverse viewpoints can cooperate to achieve ecosystem, community and economic values."

Early indications are that the collaborative process is working. The Glaze project was the first such cutting contract that was not appealed in more than a decade. To further illustrate the success of the process, Pajutee pointed out that the much larger Sisters Area Fuels Reduction project (SAFR) was also not appealed. All this points to the possibility of a speedier road ahead to safer, healthier, and more productive forests in the future.

Oregon Wild is one of the conservation groups participating in this project, and their representative, Tim Lillebo, seemed pleased with both the planning process and the work performed thus far. "We're thinking that this is the kind of thing...with all the collaboration and lots of different interests...it's the kind of work we need to do to make the forests more resilient."

Lillebo went on to say, "The guys doing the thinning out there are doing a bang-up job. Because of the frozen ground, there are a lot of places where not even one pine needle is disturbed."

Pajutee also stressed that, "This is not a timber sale, this is a stewardship contract." Dave Moyer, who administers Forest Service contracts in the Sisters area, explained the difference. "Receipts from a stewardship contract are retained for local use and are returned right back to the land. The funds don't go into the National Treasury like a straight timber contract. It's a good tool to be using."

Moyer said that the stewardship contract pounded out for Glaze Forest, together with dedicated appropriated funds, "should be able to get at least 95 percent of the project done." In an era of limited funding and high needs for forest management, the project is shaping up as a significant success for the Forest Service's planning process.

Teresa Legris, Timber Sale Administrator for the Deschutes National Forest, said that frozen ground conditions permitted operations to begin on December 29, and the thaw necessitated cessation of operations on January 11. Work on about 84 of 438 acres of the second growth was completed during that time, but there is approximately two months of work remaining.

Work might resume this winter if conditions permit. The project got the go-ahead in 2008, but the winter of 2008-9 never met the required conditions. So, the project could resume next week, next year, or several years from now. The contract window extends for a total of 10 years.

Moyer reported that the contractor has shifted operations to a different nearby project in the Camp Sherman area, near the Head of the Metolius River, that does not require frozen ground. If cold weather conditions return, Legris said it would only take a day or two to shift operations back to Glaze Forest.

According to Moyer, the harvested forest products fall into three categories. The larger saw logs are transported to the Interfor lumber mill in Gilchrist. Chip logs, which will be used in the production of chipboard and other products, generally run from eight to two inches in diameter and are going to a mill near Lyons.

The third category, biomass, includes everything else, such as branches, shrubs, needles, and anything else scooped up in the operation. Most of this will end up as fuel and is being distributed all over Oregon, depending on the demands of the moment. Physical removal of the material will also help reduce local smoke, since it will not be burned in the forest.

Legris said that much of the biomass is still on site but has been moved to areas near roads that are not subject to the frozen-ground restrictions. The material is ground up on site and hauled away in large chip-hauling trucks. "That's probably going to take them about a week to grind that and haul it out," she said.

So, the good news is that this much-anticipated project finally got underway. The bad news is that no one can predict when it will be resumed, much less when it will be finished. What is apparent, however, is that everything indicates that a new era in forest planning - and forest cooperation - has been successfully launched.

The stewardship logging contract is being closely monitored by a host of public interests in the Glaze Forest Rehabilitation Project.