Timber sale focuses on restoration

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management plans to harvest 1.5 million board feet of timber as part of a forest restoration pilot project in the Applegate Valley.
The planned timber sale is included in an environmental assessment alternative scheduled to be announced today by the BLM's Medford District for what is also known as "Pilot Joe."
The sale, the first for the project since it was proposed last year by noted Pacific Northwest forest ecology professors Norm Johnson and Jerry Franklin, is scheduled to be advertised on Sept. 15.
"No old-growth is marked to be cut - the oldest tree that will be cut will be under 150 years old," said John Gerritsma, manager of the BLM's Ashland Resource Area.
"Most trees we are cutting will be 16 inches and smaller in diameter," he added, referring to tree measurements taken at chest height by a timber cruiser.
All told, the initial work in the pilot project will cover about 900 acres, with the timber sale on about 300 acres, he said. The logging activity will include 216 acres of cable yarding and 83 acres of tractor yarding, he added.
Brush cutting and other vegetation management work will be conducted on the remaining 600 acres but no timber products will be produced from that work, he said.
If weather cooperates, work could begin this fall, Gerritsma said. The contract will be for 25 months.
Announced last year, the project is in the Applegate River drainage on about 80,000 acres of federal forestland in the Chapman and Keeler creek drainages.
The goal is to preserve the largest trees while improving forest health, including northern spotted owl habitat, while producing wood for mills and reducing wildfire danger.
It is one of three such projects in Oregon that could change the way timber is managed on federal forestland nationally. The other pilot projects under way are on BLM land in the Myrtle Creek drainage in Douglas County, as well as on tribal land in Coos County. Franklin of the University of Washington and Oregon State University's Johnson also are heading up those projects.
The two scientists, along with environmental activists and timber industry representatives, joined forces to convince Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last summer to launch the pilot projects.
Salazar agreed to the projects using the guiding principles developed by Franklin and Johnson. Basically, the principles call for preserving trees older than 150 years and avoiding entry into roadless areas. The project also must be consistent with the Northwest Forest Plan and the National Environmental Policy Act, they note.
During the 30-day comment period that ended early this month, the BLM received 17 comments, most of them lengthy.
They included a University of Wyoming professor challenging Franklin and Johnson's assumptions. A fire ecologist, professor Bill Baker, who has conducted research in the Applegate Valley, says historical data he has uncovered shows the pilot project would create a forest that never existed. His research shows the forests were quite dense.
But Franklin and Johnson stood their ground, noting their research concluded otherwise.
"A lot of the comments were debates about their philosophy," Gerritsma said of Franklin and Johnson's ecological philosophy. "But this is not a debate about philosophy. This project is a demonstration of that philosophy."
This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its biological opinion on the Applegate pilot project, concluding it could harm a pair of owls at one site, but determining that overall it would be long-term benefit to spotted owl habitat in the region.
"We believe the Pilot Joe project offers conservation benefits to the spotted owl through strategic placement of treatment units and development of late-successional emphasis areas," it concluded. "It should also benefit the ecosystem by enhancing ecological function and processes, leading to a more a resilient system in the Middle Applegate watershed."