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June 26, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels May 20, 2004 Forest Service allows time to develop plan The U.S. Forest Service has granted the City of Ashland until Oct. 1 to flesh out a community alternative to the federal agency's proposal to thin 8,150 acres in the Ashland Watershed. Ashland Forest Lands Commissioners, other city officials, the Ashland Watershed Stewardship Alliance citizens group and the environmental organizations Headwaters, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center and World Wildlife Fund had joined forces to craft an outline for the alternative. Because the community alternative has been endorsed by the city, the forest service will consider the proposal as required under the 2003 Healthy Forests Restoration Act, according to Chuck Anderson, leader of the forest service Interdisciplinary Team analyzing watershed wildfire fuels treatments. The act, signed into law by President Bush in December, speeds up the planning process for wildfire fuels reduction projects. The forest service is only required to analyze one treatment option under the act, unless a community proposes an alternative. Ashland Fire & Rescue Chief Keith Woodley said the community coalition is pleased that the forest service will allow time for the city to develop tailor-made treatment prescriptions for the widely varying tree stand conditions in the watershed. "We're excited at the prospect," he said. "As far as we know, this is the first one to come forward under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act. It would restore a healthy ecosystem in the watershed and provide a model for community collaboration." More details needed Coalition members were concerned about a forest service proposal to compartmentalize the watershed like a giant jigsaw puzzle by thinning the edges of each compartment. Firefighters might be able to stop a wildfire from spreading from one "puzzle piece" into the entire watershed. Areas within the compartments would be thinned during later stages of the project, for a total of 8,150 treated acres. Rather than relying on thinned lines, coalition members instead want to break up the continuity of wildfire fuels by creating thinned patches in naturally dry, sunny locations, while allowing more trees in moist spots. The forest service had planned to release a Draft Environmental Impact Statement analyzing its compartmentalization strategy in June. But Rogue River and Siskiyou National Forests Supervisor Scott Conroy granted the city extra time to develop the community alternative in a letter sent last week. "We need more information on the location of treatments, the number of acres to be treated and the kinds of treatments proposed," Anderson said. "Without more detail, we can't analyze it completely." If the city can meet the Oct. 1 deadline, the forest service will analyze the community alternative and an agency proposal in the Draft EIS, which would come out later in the fall. After a decision is made about which strategy to implement, on-the-ground work could still start in 2005 as forest service officials had hoped, according to Anderson. Public input sought On Tuesday night, the Ashland City Council gave the nod of approval for the Ashland Forest Lands Commission to coordinate the preparation of a detailed alternative, which will be presented in the form of an Ashland Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The plan will address treatment on federal lands as well as surrounding property. The city is seeking input from citizens during the first planning meeting for development of the alternative, scheduled from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in the Ashland Community Development Building, 51 Winburn Way. Meanwhile, Ashland Forestry Consultant Marty Main and three forest lands commissioners are meeting with forest service staff to go over detailed watershed condition information the agency has that could help in the development of the community alternative. In their community alternative outline, coalition members had proposed that a crew of four qualified individuals inventory forest conditions in the watershed this summer and design detailed treatments for different sites. The coalition will have a better idea about how much additional data will have to be gathered after reviewing the forest service information, according to Woodley. Conroy granted the city full access to agency data and forest service staff time to help understand the data. But the city may have to contract with experts to collect additional data and prepare treatment prescriptions. Costs of that effort are unknown at this time, and must be paid by the city, Woodley said. The funding could come out of the forest lands commission's annual budget, he said. Despite both the forest service and city's past histories of taking several years to develop watershed treatment projects - and at a much smaller scale - Woodley said he is confident the city and coalition partners can develop a detailed plan by the deadline. "The city took six years to plan a (recently completed) project on 183 acres. This won't take that long. We have a specified deadline and we have developed an ability to synthesize information," he said. "I think we'll be able to pull this together by October first." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams