Wood-cutting season is open in Sisters

In spite of dry forest conditions and recent lighting-caused fires, woodcutting season is open in the Sisters Country.

But Allen Heath, Special Forest Products & Small Sales Officer for the Sisters Ranger District, is quick to remind woodcutters that until there is a good rain and cool-down, the forest is at Level 2 Fire Precaution conditions. That means a 1 p.m. shut-down and sticking around for one hour on fire watch.

Another point that Heath makes is the need for woodcutters to be more aware of how much firewood is wasted when only the bole (trunk) of the wood tree is harvested. Some wood-cutters are reluctant to cut to the top three-inch diameter.

"It's not uncommon for us to find tops left in the forest that run from eight to 10-inches," Heath says.

"And as long as we're talking about wood-cutting ethics," Heath added, "it would sure be nice if more people would pile their slash when they're through cutting. I ran into some the other day that was left in the road."

Heath says that many of the historic woodcutting areas throughout the forest have been cut-over pretty well, and the district is looking into opening new areas.

"But the budget for doing an analysis comes out of timber dollars," Heath says, "and that's hard to come by right now."

The Forest Service has opened several small-tree thinning areas for woodcutting, even if the wood is piled. A special 10-cord permit can be purchased for $20 for these thinning areas. The closest to town are along the Mackenzie Highway, and if you're interested in finding other units, stop and inquire of Sandy Sharp at the information desk at district headquarters in Sisters.

You will also be told that when you pull those juniper and pine logs out to cut them for firewood, you have to reconstruct the pile for burning.

Road 1270 in the B&B Fire salvage unit is now open to woodcutting. There is little to no lodgepole in these areas, but lots of Douglas fir, white fir and ponderosa pine, standing and down. If the bark is still on the trees it may be punky and dangerous to fall, but the bare trees without any bark will be dry and make good firewood.

This is one of the very few areas on the district where woodcutters are allowed to remove ponderosa pine.

The Forest Service has also opened some of the B&B for commercial cutters, who pay for permits to remove up to 2,500 cords of firewood.

"If you go to Bi-Mart and other locations that sell firewood," Heath says, "you'll see some of our B&B salvage wood."

Before you go woodcutting you must have:

• Valid woodcutting permit.

• Map and synopsis of the area you're cutting in.

• Valid load tags.

• Fire equipment: Spark arrester on chain saw engine.; long-handled shovel with eight-inch blade; fire extinguisher - pressurized chemical, no less than 8 oz. capacity.