BigHornRam
Well-known member
The tree huggers are pissed as well as the loggers.....must be a good compromise! Hey Buzz, does the tree hugger in this article sound familiar?
Bitterroot forest cuts back fuels work
By PERRY BACKUS of the Missoulian
The Forest Service was looking for balance in its decision to scale back fuels reduction work on the controversial Middle East Fork Hazardous Fuel Reduction Project near Sula.
It might have found just that, considering the fact that both sides of the spectrum aren't happy with the plan.
The agency released its long-awaited record of decision Thursday.
The decision calls for treating 75 percent of the 6,500-acre area the agency had originally identified in its preferred alternative, using a combination of prescribed fire, thinning and commercial harvest to reduce fuels.
The modified alternative dropped 100 acres of old growth. It also postponed any decision on 1,434 acres until additional information on soil conditions could be gathered.
The new alternative reduced the harvest of commercial timber by about 3.4 million board feet.
“The decision reflects my careful consideration of ideas and concerns raised by objectors and conclusions of recent court rulings, balanced with my strong commitment to the Middle East Fork community collaborative process and the priorities established in the Bitterroot Community Wildfire Protection Plan,” said Bitterroot Forest Supervisor Dave Bull.
The Middle East Fork project was the first hazardous fuels project under the Bush administration's Healthy Forest Restoration Act in Montana. The law was established to encourage collaboration in addressing fuel buildups on national forest lands.
Unlike the normal environmental analysis process which allows for appeals to occur following a decision, objections to a Healthy Forest project occur before the final decision is made.
The project can't be administratively appealed, although someone could still file a lawsuit to stop it.
The agency plans to begin implementing the project immediately. Work on the ground will happen as soon as this summer.
For Sula-area homeowner Becki Linderman, that work can't get started soon enough. When the fires of 2000 burned through the Bitterroot, Linderman and her family were evacuated for nearly five weeks.
“As a local resident, I'm not thrilled that they are cutting back on some of the work, but I also understand,” Linderman said. “I think they are trying very, very hard to find a solution that will work. ... Now we just have to hope that it won't get stopped.”
Linderman drives through the area every day on her way to work. She's seen the trees die and turn red along the surrounding hillsides from a beetle infestation.
“The bugs are getting into more and more trees all the time,” she said. “I understand that these trees are on public lands and everyone has a right to their opinion, but we residents have watched them die and we know all about the danger of fire.”
“I'm just real anxious to see some work happen on the ground,” said Linderman.
Matthew Koehler, director of the Native Forest Network in Missoula, said his organization supports the 2,600 acres of fuel reduction work that includes slashing, prescribed fire and pre-commercial thinning. It doesn't support “industrial logging” on 2,893 acres “in some of the best remaining pockets of unlogged, mature forests in the East Fork. Generally, these logging units are deeper in the forest, far from homes and the East Fork community.”
“We want to make sure the public knows that we do support effective, bona fide fuel reduction work to help protect the East Fork community from future wildfires,” said Koehler.
Koehler said the Bitterroot National Forest hasn't done a good job of collaborating with his organization and others.
“We're really disgusted with the process,” he said. “It's very hard for us to have a good working relationship with the Bitterroot National Forest when they continue to disregard the public process.”
“This is a relationship that's been broken,” said Koehler.
Ellen Engstedt, Montana Wood Products Association executive vice president, was “dismayed” at the agency's decision to scale back the project.
Engstedt said the whole point behind the Healthy Forest Restoration Act was to allow local people to come together and decide what needs to happen to protect their communities from overgrown forests. The agency is then required to develop projects to address those needs and focus their efforts in the wildland urban interface.
“There was a lot of time and collaboration that occurred with those folks in Sula,” she said. “They were a very dedicated group of individuals that helped develop the Alternative 2.”
About 80 percent of the lands that were dropped were in the wildland urban interface, or WUI, said Engstedt.
“When the whole area is considered at extreme risk, to eliminate any of those lands in WUI, I think is a terrible mistake,” she said.
Julia Altemus, the Montana Logging Association's resource specialist, said that group was disappointed to learn the agency had failed to complete soil analysis on 23 units inside the wildland-urban interface.
“We ultimately believe that this omission - whether intentional or not - has let the local community of Sula down and at continued risk,” said Altemus. “We sincerely believe dropping all vegetative treatments in old growth, postponing 25 percent of the hazardous fuel work and burning 4,000 acres is a missed opportunity both ecologically and economically and may never be recaptured.”
The decision allows the work to move forward without any further delay, said Bull. The agency is preparing stewardship contracts and the work should begin by this summer, he said.
“The decision is a balance of the concerns and expectations for fuel reduction and forest restoration work expressed by the community and other interested parties through early collaborative discussions and the Bitterroot Community Wildfire Protection Plan, and of the concerns of other members of the public about potential environmental impacts of the work,” he said.
“We recognize that it is not easy to participate in community-based discussions in which such diverse interests and expectations are so strongly held,” said Bull. “We are confident that this is the right decision for the resources and the people of the Middle East Fork community.”
“And while we realize that many would like to see more done on the land and others would like to see less, we look forward to implementing this decision with the support of the community,” he said.
Reporter Perry Backus can be reached at 523-5259 or at [email protected]
Want to learn more?
If you have a computer, the easiest way to see the Middle East Fork decision is to visit the Bitterroot National Forest Web site, www.fs.fed.us/r1/bitterroot/projects.
The record of decision will be available on a CD or as hard copy, which can be picked up at the Bitterroot National Forest supervisor's office in Hamilton or at the Sula Ranger District office. If you would like one mailed to you, call the Sula Ranger District at 821-3201 and provide your current address.
Forest Supervisor Dave Bull and Ranger Tracey Hollingshead will host an open house at the Sula Clubhouse on Monday from 3 to 7 p.m. to discuss the decision and plans for implementation.
Bitterroot forest cuts back fuels work
By PERRY BACKUS of the Missoulian
The Forest Service was looking for balance in its decision to scale back fuels reduction work on the controversial Middle East Fork Hazardous Fuel Reduction Project near Sula.
It might have found just that, considering the fact that both sides of the spectrum aren't happy with the plan.
The agency released its long-awaited record of decision Thursday.
The decision calls for treating 75 percent of the 6,500-acre area the agency had originally identified in its preferred alternative, using a combination of prescribed fire, thinning and commercial harvest to reduce fuels.
The modified alternative dropped 100 acres of old growth. It also postponed any decision on 1,434 acres until additional information on soil conditions could be gathered.
The new alternative reduced the harvest of commercial timber by about 3.4 million board feet.
“The decision reflects my careful consideration of ideas and concerns raised by objectors and conclusions of recent court rulings, balanced with my strong commitment to the Middle East Fork community collaborative process and the priorities established in the Bitterroot Community Wildfire Protection Plan,” said Bitterroot Forest Supervisor Dave Bull.
The Middle East Fork project was the first hazardous fuels project under the Bush administration's Healthy Forest Restoration Act in Montana. The law was established to encourage collaboration in addressing fuel buildups on national forest lands.
Unlike the normal environmental analysis process which allows for appeals to occur following a decision, objections to a Healthy Forest project occur before the final decision is made.
The project can't be administratively appealed, although someone could still file a lawsuit to stop it.
The agency plans to begin implementing the project immediately. Work on the ground will happen as soon as this summer.
For Sula-area homeowner Becki Linderman, that work can't get started soon enough. When the fires of 2000 burned through the Bitterroot, Linderman and her family were evacuated for nearly five weeks.
“As a local resident, I'm not thrilled that they are cutting back on some of the work, but I also understand,” Linderman said. “I think they are trying very, very hard to find a solution that will work. ... Now we just have to hope that it won't get stopped.”
Linderman drives through the area every day on her way to work. She's seen the trees die and turn red along the surrounding hillsides from a beetle infestation.
“The bugs are getting into more and more trees all the time,” she said. “I understand that these trees are on public lands and everyone has a right to their opinion, but we residents have watched them die and we know all about the danger of fire.”
“I'm just real anxious to see some work happen on the ground,” said Linderman.
Matthew Koehler, director of the Native Forest Network in Missoula, said his organization supports the 2,600 acres of fuel reduction work that includes slashing, prescribed fire and pre-commercial thinning. It doesn't support “industrial logging” on 2,893 acres “in some of the best remaining pockets of unlogged, mature forests in the East Fork. Generally, these logging units are deeper in the forest, far from homes and the East Fork community.”
“We want to make sure the public knows that we do support effective, bona fide fuel reduction work to help protect the East Fork community from future wildfires,” said Koehler.
Koehler said the Bitterroot National Forest hasn't done a good job of collaborating with his organization and others.
“We're really disgusted with the process,” he said. “It's very hard for us to have a good working relationship with the Bitterroot National Forest when they continue to disregard the public process.”
“This is a relationship that's been broken,” said Koehler.
Ellen Engstedt, Montana Wood Products Association executive vice president, was “dismayed” at the agency's decision to scale back the project.
Engstedt said the whole point behind the Healthy Forest Restoration Act was to allow local people to come together and decide what needs to happen to protect their communities from overgrown forests. The agency is then required to develop projects to address those needs and focus their efforts in the wildland urban interface.
“There was a lot of time and collaboration that occurred with those folks in Sula,” she said. “They were a very dedicated group of individuals that helped develop the Alternative 2.”
About 80 percent of the lands that were dropped were in the wildland urban interface, or WUI, said Engstedt.
“When the whole area is considered at extreme risk, to eliminate any of those lands in WUI, I think is a terrible mistake,” she said.
Julia Altemus, the Montana Logging Association's resource specialist, said that group was disappointed to learn the agency had failed to complete soil analysis on 23 units inside the wildland-urban interface.
“We ultimately believe that this omission - whether intentional or not - has let the local community of Sula down and at continued risk,” said Altemus. “We sincerely believe dropping all vegetative treatments in old growth, postponing 25 percent of the hazardous fuel work and burning 4,000 acres is a missed opportunity both ecologically and economically and may never be recaptured.”
The decision allows the work to move forward without any further delay, said Bull. The agency is preparing stewardship contracts and the work should begin by this summer, he said.
“The decision is a balance of the concerns and expectations for fuel reduction and forest restoration work expressed by the community and other interested parties through early collaborative discussions and the Bitterroot Community Wildfire Protection Plan, and of the concerns of other members of the public about potential environmental impacts of the work,” he said.
“We recognize that it is not easy to participate in community-based discussions in which such diverse interests and expectations are so strongly held,” said Bull. “We are confident that this is the right decision for the resources and the people of the Middle East Fork community.”
“And while we realize that many would like to see more done on the land and others would like to see less, we look forward to implementing this decision with the support of the community,” he said.
Reporter Perry Backus can be reached at 523-5259 or at [email protected]
Want to learn more?
If you have a computer, the easiest way to see the Middle East Fork decision is to visit the Bitterroot National Forest Web site, www.fs.fed.us/r1/bitterroot/projects.
The record of decision will be available on a CD or as hard copy, which can be picked up at the Bitterroot National Forest supervisor's office in Hamilton or at the Sula Ranger District office. If you would like one mailed to you, call the Sula Ranger District at 821-3201 and provide your current address.
Forest Supervisor Dave Bull and Ranger Tracey Hollingshead will host an open house at the Sula Clubhouse on Monday from 3 to 7 p.m. to discuss the decision and plans for implementation.
