News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Some 2,100 trees in the corridor leading into Sisters from the west will be logged in a project slated to begin sometime around the middle of April.
Sisters District Ranger Ian Reid signed a decision memo on February 8 detailing the scope of the 514-acre project, which was necessitated by a massive die-off of pines along Highway 20 due at least in large part to the Oregon Department of Transportation's use of an herbicide for weed abatement.
The problem began developing from 2013 to 2015 when an herbicide named Perspective was used along the highway corridor, within the Oregon Department of Transportation's right of way, to remove brush. The herbicide harmed ponderosa pines and other trees in the area where it was applied.
The Forest Service plans call for the felling of herbicide-affected trees with 90 percent or greater canopy damage, regardless of diameter, within 75 feet of the highway. ODOT and the Forest Service will split the cost of the project, which Reid declined to disclose until after the project is bid.
The felled trees will become "forest product."
"Our desired use would be saw timber," Reid told The Nugget. "There's some mature timber out there."
The sale of trees for lumber would provide the greatest return for taxpayers, Reid noted, mitigating the cost of the project. Other products could include chips or firewood.
What uses will be allowed for the timber will depend upon what the Oregon Department of Agriculture determines in crafting a new rule regarding the use of the active ingredient in the weed killer that caused the damage.
ODA released a proposed rule at the end of January that significantly restricts the use of herbicides containing aminocyclopyrachlor - and the use of forest products affected by the herbicide. A permanent rule is to be in place on March 25.
ODA is not concerned about traces of aminocyclopyrachlor in dimensional lumber because it's not considered a threat to humans and other mammals, ODA pesticide specialist Rose Kachadoorian told The Nugget. The agency's concern is with sawdust and other byproducts that could come into contact with plants. As it stands right now, though, that could affect how the timber is used.
"The way our proposed rule is written, they can't even mill that lumber," said ODA pesticide specialist Rose Kachadoorian.
That could change, Kachadoorian said, if the Forest Service can come up with a plan to keep milled lumber segregated and dispose of the sawdust so that it does not enter the compost market or any use that could bring it into contact with plants.
Burning it as hog fuel is "certainly an acceptable use for it."
Kachadoorian said that ODA wants to work with the Forest Service for the best outcome.
"We don't want to leave the trees on the ground, either," she said, noting that that would be a fire hazard and leave a lingering potential for toxicity.
Reid said, "Whatever their final ruling, we'll comply with it."
The District Ranger said that the Forest Service and ODOT want to get the project underway as soon as possible to avoid the higher traffic periods on Highway 20, in a window between April 15 and May 1.
"April 15 would kind of be our best-case start date," he said. "It'll kind of depend on soil moisture, contractor availability, logistical support, snow and ice on the highway - that sort of thing," he said.
ODOT spokesman Peter Murphy said that the agency is developing its traffic management plan for the project and it's not clear yet what the traffic impacts will be. Lane closures and delays would depend on how the logging is conducted.
Some trees will also be felled in a secondary zone 75 to 150 from the highway. Those trees, too, are dead or dying, but not from herbicide.
"We've only identified one tree in Zone 2 that was likely affected by herbicide," Reid said.
It's not clear what has killed the Zone 2 trees, which include species other than ponderosa pine, like grand fir, lodgepole pine and juniper. Disease, aging and decay, and drought stress may all be factors.
"While we have equipment out there, there's some economies of scale to get this done in one fell swoop," Reid said.
Some of the trees in Zone 2 will be topped and left as wildlife trees, where foresters deem it is safe to do so.
The Forest Service has already removed some "danger trees," and recent weather has given some urgency to the project. Nobody wants to see trees falling on the highway.
"Those trees are weakened and some came down in that last windstorm a couple of weeks ago," Reid said. "So it's only a matter of time until something bad (happens) out there."
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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