Ask the average Joe on the street to outline the process to get lumber from public lands and you might hear that it is cut from trees. From a slightly more informed citizen, you might hear that the Forest Service opens up a timber sale, and a contractor cuts it. Yet another citizen might tell you there is likely to be action in court over environmental challenges before the timber is cut. But from the group on a recent public field trip to the Red Rocks Project Area between Butte and Boulder, you would definitely hear there is a lot more to it than that.
The process starts before the tree is even growing and depends on many factors overseen by the stewards of public lands, including forest employees, area ranchers with grazing permits, landowners, recreationists and more. Among those taking the June 30 field trip were U.S. Forest Service administrators and specialists in hydrology, fisheries, vegetation, silviculture (trees), wildlife, and fire and fuels. Also on the trip were about twenty members of the public.
The cooperative nature of the Red Rocks Project has allowed the public to learn more about the reasons behind forest management. It has also allowed the public an expanded opportunity to weigh in on the project before it goes to a formal approval process. The trip was only the latest in a continuing effort to improve the forest health of an area decimated by mountain pine beetle and spruce budworm over the last 15 years or so.
Achieving that goal will take a lot more than just cutting down the dead trees to get whatever lumber is still salvageable, project managers have said. Beaverhead-Deerlodge Deputy Forest Supervisor Scott Snelson said a priority for the project is to salvage timber value, partly because receipts generated from the timber sales can be used to accomplish other necessary restoration work. That in turn will benefit a whole host of issues: wildlife, fisheries, future timber sales, hunting and grazing opportunities, watershed and even road conditions, he and others said. District Ranger Dave Sabo said over fifty percent of the Forest Service’s budget now goes to wildfire management, a percentage that continues to increase year after year. That makes it hard to fund other programs that support active forest management and forest health, he said. Jefferson County Commissioner Leonard Wortman said the county feels a sense of urgency in seeing the timber value captured because some of the income goes to the county.
With decreasing income from federal sources such as the Secure Rural Schools Act, the county could use the money, he said. The value of the timber is quickly declining in stands hit by mountain pine beetles, said a forest silviculturist. As the trees fall, the majority become unusable, he said.
A variety of topics were covered as the group made its way through the roughly 80,000 acre project area last month. Fire/Fuels Specialist Kevin Smith explained that while burns will be included across much of the treatment, in some areas the reasons behind it will differ. For example, in some places the objective will be to reduce surface fuels while in others the main goal will be to increase plants and grasses that create forage opportunities for big game and other habitat.
Forest Service Silviculturist Andy Kies said the heavy impact from insect infestations in the area was in some ways related to the close spacing of so many trees of the same age and type. Thinning and creating pockets of younger growth to break up the homogeneity, along with increasing species diversity, can make the forest more resilient to future insect outbreaks, he said. Smith said breaking up the vegetation continuity on the landscape and creating more of a mosaic pattern also gives wildland firefighters more options when fire does occur. Those on the tour saw an area where “hazard trees” (dead or dying trees presenting a danger to the public, primarily from falling) had been removed from a roadside. The implication for big game security was discussed, with Kies explaining options for increasing cover opportunities. Kies also talked about stressors on aspen trees, such as grazing, encroachment by conifers, and drought. Like humans, when trees are stressed they are more susceptible to insect and disease attacks, he said.
Stress on trees can be decreased by increasing spacing and promoting more drought-tolerant species such as Douglas fir and ponderosa pine, said Kies. Trees that are less stressed by climate change will also be more resilient to insect and disease infestation, he said. Forest officials have been working on the Red Rocks Project for years and are nearly ready to release a proposed action. The formal scoping period to solicit public feedback on the proposal is likely to begin in August, Project Team Leader Tera Little said. Also offered to the public will be an alternative based on comments received during the collaborative process and throughout the project thus far, she said.
The dates, times and places for the scoping meetings will be released later. In the meantime, forest officials are hopeful that the less formal, collaborative process to this point will result in a stronger project, just like the stronger trees they hope will grow in the healthier forest.
