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ASHLAND WATERSHED Helicopter logging to begin Delayed by weather, aerial part of project expected to start in next week Comment By Bert Etling Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Bert Etling Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Dec. 17, 2015 at 7:30 PM By Bert Etling Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Dec. 17, 2015 at 7:30 PM » Social News Faced with steeper slopes in upper reaches of the Ashland Creek watershed, forest managers are reaching deeper into their toolbox so they can thin the thatch of forest growth matting hillsides. Using helicopters is more expensive and noisier than other methods, but causes less damage to habitat foresters are trying to improve. That leaves a forest that’s a better home for the critters and plants that live there and a forest that better serves as a natural filtering machine to deliver a quality water supply to Ashland’s primary water source, Ashland Creek, and less likely to be consumed in a disastrous wildfire, according to Marko Bey, executive director of Lomakatsi Restoration Project. The helicopter logging, originally planned to have already begun by now, has been delayed by weather, but is now expected to start in the next week or so, depending on weather, Lomakatsi spokesperson Alicia Fitzgerald said Thursday. Helicopters were previously used in 2012 sand 2013. Historically, natural lightning-sparked fires used to burn through the forest on a regular basis, naturally thinning the forest and creating space for animals to move through and new plants to grow up in. But a century-plus ago, man started stopping those fires, allowing excess vegetation to persist, competing for light and water with other plants. The Ashland Forest Resiliency Project was started in 2010 to try and right that environmental wrong. AFR is a partnership between the U.S. Forest Service, which owns most of the land in the watershed; the city of Ashland, which uses the water that flows out of it; The Nature Conservancy; and Lomakatsi, which has the expertise to implement the project. They’re trying to wrangle out-of-balance vegetation growth back into line and get to a point where, instead of taking care of a backlog of overgrowth, they’re managing a sustainable ecosystem on an ongoing basis. So far, more than 4,000 of the 7,600 acres in the project area have been restored. A study prepared for the current project includes aerial photos of project area from 1939, showing hillsides where the tree canopy appears to cover about 50 percent of the area, and in 2005, where it appears almost 90 percent of the ground is invisible under the crowns of trees. Once the excess vegetation has been removed, the eventual goal is to be able to have fire be able to underburn through the forest without climbing a fire ladder to the tree crowns. Hand crews and trucks usually handle the work. Helicopters are called in on steeper slopes to reduce the on-ground impact. Reducing those impacts are mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970. In land-based logging, fallen logs are pulled up slopes. That becomes impractical anytime the slope exceeds 20 degrees. All the land being logged in this phase is on U.S. Forest Service land in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest south of Ashland. Timberline Helicopters out of Idaho has a $3 million contract to do the helicopter work. According to its website, it flies Kaman K-Max helicopters, the quietest in its class, capable of lifting up to 6,000 lbs. The thinning will cover 1,200 acres. Trees logged average 12-14 inches in diameter at breast height (DBH), with the single largest number of trees cut in the 10-12 inch category. Most trees marked with the white dot indicating they should be cut are about 75 years old. Most trees to be cut are Douglas firs, with some white firs to come out on higher elevations. Larger trees that are staying are about 200 years old. Smaller trees are taken out around the larger trees “to relieve competition and stress” within a radius around each tree, said Chamise Kramer, a Forest Service spokesperson. Many of the larger trees are Ponderosa pines. Total thinning will yield about 3.6 million board feet of lumber. It will take approximately 1,000 truck trips to haul out the wood. Thinning removes 35-40 percent of the small trees, roughly one-third of all trees. The runup to the project kept about 10 people busy with planning and doing such tasks as marking which trees to cut and which to save. There are currently 40-50 people working on the thinning. AFR typically creates 200 seasonal jobs working on the project. While the thinning is going on, Ashlanders may hear some noise from the helicopter, but the type in use this time is quieter than the last time helicopter logging was done in the area. The helicopter fueling and maintenance base will be above the swim reservoir at the end of Granite Street. Logs will dumped and placed onto trucks, at about 12-15 logs per load, and trucks will make their way down Tolman Creek Road, then head down Siskiyou Boulevard to Crowson Road and around the golf course to get on the highway and head north to Murphy Veneer Mill in White City. That route will be taken to avoid passing in front of Bellview Elementary School. Later in the project, trucks will use Granite Street to exit the watershed. Hiking trails will be closed in the project area. “Safety is a priority,” said Kramer. “We want people to stay out of the area.” Trails that will be closed include Catwalk, Upper Caterpillar, Marty’s, Toothpick, Lamb Mine, and Upper and Lower Eastview Trails. The 2060 road will be closed above the White Rabbit parking area all the way to Four Corners at the 2080-600 road junction. Closures will continue at least through Thursday, Dec. 24, including weekends. For project updates, go to ashlandwatershed.org . Email Tidings Editor Bert Etling at [email protected], call him at 541-631-1313 and follow him at www.twitter.com/betling . By Bert Etling Ashland Daily Tidings DailyTidings.com By Bert Etling Ashland Daily Tidings Posted Dec. 17, 2015 at 7:30 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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