Forest Service to cut timber harvests

Written by Ryan Campbell, The Union Democrat April 12, 2012 03:44 pm

Area loggers gathered in Sonora on Wednesday to hear updates on the health of the Stanislaus National Forest, and learn how much timber will be harvested on public lands in the coming year.

About 40 people attended the Timber Sale Purchaser meeting in the Stanislaus National Forest Supervisor’s building on Greenley Road. Experts from different branches of the Forest Service offered information about damaging insects, tree diseases and forest land management.

One of the chief concerns among those at the meeting was how much timber will be available for harvesting in the national forest.

According to the five-year forest fuels and vegetation management program, roughly 21.5 million board-feet of lumber can be removed from the forest this year for processing. The figure is down from about 38 million board-feet in 2010.

A board-foot is a measure equal to a 1 foot length of board, 1 inch thick and 1 foot wide. About 15,000 board-feet go into framing a 2,000 square-foot house.

The reason for the reduction in harvesting comes down to budget cuts, which have limited the number of National Forest projects that will be carried out this year, according to resource management program area leader Deb Romberger.

“It’s not what you wanted to see, it’s not where we really would like to be, but right now that’s where our best estimate is,” she said.

The Forest Service has funding for four timber thinning projects in the Mi-Wok, Groveland and Calaveras ranger districts, but lacks funding for an additional 10 projects.

Romberger said the Stanislaus National Forest has sought funding from private sources, like Coca-Cola, to pay for additional projects.

Entomologist Beverly Bulaon said the unusually wet weather conditions last year drove down the bark beetle population, but also increased the incidence of tree diseases like the heterobasidion annosum root fungus.

Forest Service pathologist Martin McKenzie said the fungus was “the scourge of the Stanislaus National Forest,” and gave a presentation on the proper way to cover the stumps of freshly cut trees to prevent the fungus from taking hold.

He said fresh cut stumps and damaged trees should be treated with Sporax powder to kill fungus spores that can migrate through the air or via the tree’s root system.

Research ecologist Eric Knapp gave a presentation about three parcels of land in the forest that are being used as a testing ground for a new method of targeted thinning of trees.

He said that recent research has shown that “patchy” forests are more immune to crown fires. An added benefit is that the thinner forests appear to be more beneficial to animals, offering a more natural nesting and foraging habitat.

The plots of land were chosen for the experiment because data on forest density in the area goes back to a survey conducted more than 80 years ago. Due to forest-fire-suppression programs, the number of trees per acre has grown from about 116 in 1929 to 276 in 2008, Knapp said.

“We know from the historic maps that this forest was resilient to fire,” he said. “We’re hoping that this will also break up the fuels and make a resilient structure.”

His program has focused on recreating what happens in a forest fire by cutting down smaller trees that would normally be destroyed.

Knapp said that data has also shown that thinner forests accumulate more snow and retain moisture for longer periods.

Yosemite National Park forester Brian Mattos said the park will begin a program to remove trees from various scenic vistas. He said the park will remove some larger trees, but not those that existed before roadside viewing areas were built.

“We’re not going to come in and cut old growth, we’re just going to be cutting trees that came in since those vistas were established,” he said.

He said the work plan will be announced in July.

For additional information, contact Forest Service representative Dave Horak at 209-532-3671, or email at dhorak@fs.fed.us.

Contact Ryan Campbell at rcampbell@uniondemocrat.com or 588-4526.

See the original article here.