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Timber sale in Olympic forest approved
Logging revenues will go toward restoration work
JOHN DODGE
THE OLYMPIAN
Groups that often battle over logging on public lands have agreed to a timber sale in the Olympic National Forest that will yield money for habitat restoration work in the Skokomish River watershed.
A timber sale about 10 miles up the Skokomish Valley has the support of the timber industry, environmental groups, the Skokomish tribe, private landowners, county officials and the U.S. Forest Service.
The sale is crafted around contracting authority granted by Congress in 2003 that allows the Forest Service to use logging revenues for restoration work, if diverse interest groups within the community can agree on the sale, and on how the money will be spent.
That's exactly what happened this year with the Flat Timber Sale, which will remove about 2.5 million board feet of timber by thinning a crowded timber stand.
The sale is expected to raise $300,000 to $500,000 for environmental projects on the forest, said Kathy O'Halloran, a Forest Service natural resources staff officer for Olympic National Forest.
"It's amazing how quickly it all came together," O'Halloran said of the community consensus on the sale. "And it's a good deal for us -- our budgets have dropped, and the need for habitat restoration is still there."
Under a typical sale, the proceeds would revert back to the U.S. Treasury.
The money will be used to remove a logging road on Le Bar Creek that can send sediment into the Skokomish River, improve elk forage habitat and combat noxious weeds, she said.
Forest managers have identified $70 million in restoration work on the 632,000-acre forest, which was heavily harvested prior to approval of the Northwest Forest Plan in 1994.
The past timber cutting left a legacy of logging road culverts that block fish passage, landslides, degraded water quality and diminished wildlife habitat.
But federal money is tight. This year, for instance, the Olympic National Forest budget has $1 million for habitat restoration.
The so-called stewardship contracts could help speed up the work in the years ahead.
The Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, a Bellingham-based conservation group, approached Olympic National Forest managers last fall, offering to organize a community meeting to see whether the proposed timber sale could be tailored to take advantage of the 2003 act of Congress.
"There is a mammoth need for restoration work on the Olympic National Forest, and a limited budget with which to accomplish it," said Regan Smith, conservation associate for the alliance.
At first, forest managers were hesitant, unsure whether diverse community interests could reach a consensus, said Olympic Forest Supervisor Dale Hom.
But the group reached agreement on the timber sale in two meetings this past winter and needed just one more get-together to figure out how to spend the estimated profits from the timber sold.
The timber harvest itself will pay environmental dividends, another requirement of the federal law, O'Halloran said. Cutting trees from an overly dense tree plantation will open the area up for use by wildlife species, including the northern spotted owl.
The project also will produce logs that can be milled into lumber and other forest products. A volume of 2.5 million board feet is enough timber to build 250 average-size homes.
The project shows that groups with diverse interests can work together for common goals, said Bob Dick, state manager of the Northwest Forestry Association, which represents timber companies that rely on public land for their timber supplies.
"Ultimately, that may be the most important outcome of this project," Dick said.
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Timber sale in Olympic forest approved
Logging revenues will go toward restoration work
JOHN DODGE
THE OLYMPIAN
Groups that often battle over logging on public lands have agreed to a timber sale in the Olympic National Forest that will yield money for habitat restoration work in the Skokomish River watershed.
A timber sale about 10 miles up the Skokomish Valley has the support of the timber industry, environmental groups, the Skokomish tribe, private landowners, county officials and the U.S. Forest Service.
The sale is crafted around contracting authority granted by Congress in 2003 that allows the Forest Service to use logging revenues for restoration work, if diverse interest groups within the community can agree on the sale, and on how the money will be spent.
That's exactly what happened this year with the Flat Timber Sale, which will remove about 2.5 million board feet of timber by thinning a crowded timber stand.
The sale is expected to raise $300,000 to $500,000 for environmental projects on the forest, said Kathy O'Halloran, a Forest Service natural resources staff officer for Olympic National Forest.
"It's amazing how quickly it all came together," O'Halloran said of the community consensus on the sale. "And it's a good deal for us -- our budgets have dropped, and the need for habitat restoration is still there."
Under a typical sale, the proceeds would revert back to the U.S. Treasury.
The money will be used to remove a logging road on Le Bar Creek that can send sediment into the Skokomish River, improve elk forage habitat and combat noxious weeds, she said.
Forest managers have identified $70 million in restoration work on the 632,000-acre forest, which was heavily harvested prior to approval of the Northwest Forest Plan in 1994.
The past timber cutting left a legacy of logging road culverts that block fish passage, landslides, degraded water quality and diminished wildlife habitat.
But federal money is tight. This year, for instance, the Olympic National Forest budget has $1 million for habitat restoration.
The so-called stewardship contracts could help speed up the work in the years ahead.
The Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, a Bellingham-based conservation group, approached Olympic National Forest managers last fall, offering to organize a community meeting to see whether the proposed timber sale could be tailored to take advantage of the 2003 act of Congress.
"There is a mammoth need for restoration work on the Olympic National Forest, and a limited budget with which to accomplish it," said Regan Smith, conservation associate for the alliance.
At first, forest managers were hesitant, unsure whether diverse community interests could reach a consensus, said Olympic Forest Supervisor Dale Hom.
But the group reached agreement on the timber sale in two meetings this past winter and needed just one more get-together to figure out how to spend the estimated profits from the timber sold.
The timber harvest itself will pay environmental dividends, another requirement of the federal law, O'Halloran said. Cutting trees from an overly dense tree plantation will open the area up for use by wildlife species, including the northern spotted owl.
The project also will produce logs that can be milled into lumber and other forest products. A volume of 2.5 million board feet is enough timber to build 250 average-size homes.
The project shows that groups with diverse interests can work together for common goals, said Bob Dick, state manager of the Northwest Forestry Association, which represents timber companies that rely on public land for their timber supplies.
"Ultimately, that may be the most important outcome of this project," Dick said.
