Forest project is example of cooperation

In the not-too-distant past "old growth" was fighting words. No matter what the Forest Service did on the ground it was likely to end up in court, and conservationists, the timber industry and the Forest Service usually took on the role of adversaries.

The Sisters Ranger District has been doing things differently, and the Glaze Forest Restoration Project, which is again underway in Sisters Country, is a significant example of the kind of work that has earned the local foresters national accolades.

Potential adversaries became partners when conservationist Tim Lillebo, of Oregon Wild, and industry leader Cal Mukumoto, of Warm Springs Biomass, came to the Forest Service with the idea for this demonstration project for doing things differently. They were key elements to the project's success, obtaining over $100,000 in grants and helping the Forest Service lead discussions with other interested groups.

The goals of the project are spelled out in such a way that no one can mistake the whys and wherefores:

•â¯Restore 1,200 acres of ponderosa pine, aspen ecosystems and riparian areas (along Indian Ford Creek), so the area can function more naturally in a fire-prone environment.

•â¯Break down barriers of mistrust and create a template on how people with diverse viewpoints regarding forest management methods can cooperate to achieve ecosystem, community, and economic values.

Early pioneers, who were overjoyed to harvest the pristine pine forest around Black Butte, had no view of what would be involved in the future to achieve "forest health," "ecosystem management," or "sustainability."

Like most everyone in those days, they believed there was no end to trees.

The 1,200 acres within the present Glaze Forest Restoration Project was clear-cut in 1943. Only a small patch of old-growth was left because it was public land, protected under the umbrella of the Forest Service.

All that new growth of pine forest blossoming in the clear-cut over the 68 years since grew up under a mandate of total fire suppression.

Many of the new foresters who questioned the wisdom of "no fire in the forest" could see how sick the forest had become, but every time they made attempts to restore health to the forest and make fire a natural part of the ecosystem, the concerns by many people within in the environmental movement regarding "old growth" got in the way.

The number-two goal of the Glaze Forest project has gone a long way in bringing all parties to the table to discuss everything about proposed projects, to put past hard feelings and distrust away, and create partners, not adversaries.

Before the final plan for the Glaze Forest project was cast in stone, or any machinery was put on the ground, people from the community of Sisters, the Deschutes County Forester, congressional offices, the governor's office, Deschutes/Ochoco Resource Advisory Committee, county commissioners, Oregon Deptartment of Forestry, Jefferson County Commissioners, Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, and Deschutes Provincial Committee were in the discussion and looking at the project area, close-up.

In addition, Black Butte Homeowners Association and Natural Resources Committee were involved, along with Friends of Black Butte and the Black Butte Ranch Manager's office. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs was also represented, along with local timber interests.

East Cascades Audubon Society (with Craig and Marilyn Miller conducting bird studies), Earth Justice Legal Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council, Defenders of Wildlife, Native Plant Society, Nature Conservancy and other environmental groups jumped in.

Wildfire protection agencies were also invited, along with OSU Cascade campus, Oregon Hunters Association, Wolftree and other Black Butte forest users and interests.

With that list of interested parties involved, the stage was set for making the Glaze Forest project everything the Forest Service and environmental interests wanted it to become. Sisters District Ecologist Maret Pajutee says she wants to see "Glaze" become the code word for the correct way to do forest restoration.

The project got underway when Scott Melcher, a logger with extensive experience in a wide variety of stewardship projects on the Sisters Ranger District, was contracted to take on the complex job of achieving the goals of old-growth management, complex wildlife and fire concerns, and maintaining the health to the riparian community of Indian Ford Creek.

"Variable-density mosaic thinning" of cramped and sick trees is the theme of the project, a method of restoration known informally as, "Gappy, Patchy and Clumpy," resulting in re-creating a forest that is beneficial to trees, ground cover, wildflowers, soils, water and wildlife. Trees of sawmill size are sold for lumber, everything else organic is ground up for biomass; nothing is left in burn piles.

Melcher uses machinery that has the least amount of impact on the ground: all rubber-tired equipment that has the lightest impact on soils and vegetation. The operators are trained to recognize and follow the Forest Service guidelines, and Steven Orange, Forest Service Contract Administrator, is on the ground to ensure that all the FS protocols are followed.

But even that part of the project is mitigated; if a machinery operator sees the need to place steel crawlers ("grousers" that distribute the weight of the machine properly) on the tires of the logging equipment for safety or ease of getting around, they discuss this with Orange before it takes place.

Right in the middle of all this machinery, management guidelines and discussions with the project partners, is Pajutee. Her job is to monitor the results and make certain everyone involved with the project is following the rules-and ensure that Peck's penstemon, a rare and lovely little member of the beardtongue family, is safe and sound.

"We are finding that disturbance - with a little "d' not a big "D' - is working well for Peck's penstemon in the Glaze project," Pajutee said, pointing to the soft prints left by the logging equipment.