“The U.S. Forest Service is planning on salvage logging later this year in about 8 percent of its acres burned in last year’s 191,197-acre Chetco Bar fire in Curry County, a move timber advocates welcomed and one conservation group called “something we can live with.””
George Sexton, conservation director for the Ashland-based Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, said a sound plan to get sellable timber from the fire would be to continue focusing on commercial logging of hazard trees as well as previously logged plantations within the study area.
The forest also should add fuels-reduction timber sales immediately around communities to ensure public safety in these areas eyed for salvage, Sexton said.
“I could see that as a project that sails through pretty quickly and gets out a decent amount of volume,” Sexton said. “That’s about the best they can do and I think it will produce a fair amount of volume.
The Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association said: “Getting some rather than not getting any out,” “That is what we’re hoping for.”
Interesting to see this apparent agreement. I visited the Chetco Bar fire last weekend. There are extensive areas of burned plantations/managed stands, especially along the lower end of the Chetco River. South Coast lumber has already done a fair amount of salvage in their burned plantations. Unfortunately, there are a lot of burned managed stands in Late Successional Reserve that will not regenerate at all due to lack of seed source, and I think the FS has decided to completely ignore those areas.
“Progress is our most important product”
Surprised to see George isn’t telling us the sky is going to fall if we harvest any timber. A new philosophy for K-Wild? That would be progress.
I think all of the roadside salvage units should not be limited to a certain distance from the road but should include all merchable timber within reach of sound logging practices. The contracts should also contain restoration work. Working in LSR areas would be a good idea since many are now dead.
No matter how fast the FS moves or how aggressive a timber salvage program most of the Chetco Bar fire area will never be touched. It’s that large.
I find the quote from Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association comical. Are they really that weak?
Unfortunately, I think Mr. Sexton may have been commenting on what he was told the salvage plan might look like, e.g., mostly plantations, but the salvage plan released by the FS looks very different. There lots of salvage logging proposed in native forests, and unroaded areas.