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Study finds few risks in expansion The third and final installment in a series of articles for the "weekend" edition related to the Mt. Ashland Ski Area expansion proposal, to run during the period of public comment. By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings An expansion of the Mt. Ashland Ski Area would not cause significant harm to the environment, but would involve some unavoidable impacts, including the cutting of old growth trees, according to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement produced by the U.S. Forest Service. The document released earlier this summer analyzes six expansion options, including a no-expansion alternative. Alternative 6, the Forest Service's preferred alternative, involves cutting 65 acres of trees to make way for new runs downhill and west of the existing ski area, chairlifts and a snow tubing area southeast of the parking lot. The proposal also calls for new buildings, including a second lodge near the summit, and an expansion of the parking area. Members of environmental groups oppose any plans to expand into the Middle Fork of the East Fork of Ashland Creek. Alternative 6 and Alternative 2, proposed by the Mt. Ashland Association, would place constellations of runs on either side of the area known as the Middle Branch, with the runs and the bottom of a new chairlift then converging in one spot near a wetland. "There's a mixture of rare plants and animals, wetlands that are rare in the area, old growth forest and Englemann spruce. If there's anyplace that should not be encroached upon, this is the place," said Tom Dimitre, chair of the Rogue Group Sierra Club. But Jeff Hanson, general manager of the nonprofit ski area, said the Mt. Ashland Association expansion plan has been designed from the beginning to minimize impacts. "It starts with a plan to protect the environment. That's a big difference from the original construction and typical ski area construction," Hanson said. The Forest Service's preferred alternative is a variation of the Mt. Ashland Association plan and is designed to further reduce impacts. A biological highway Like the cross bar of a giant H, the Siskiyou Mountains - which include Mount Ashland - connect the north-south running Cascades with the Oregon coastal range, allowing species from different geographic areas to mix. The Siskiyous, left free of ice during the last ice age, also serve as a haven for various species, according to scientists. The area around Ashland won nationwide recognition for its biological diversity in 2000 with the designation of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument east of town. The idea of intruding upon undeveloped land in the Siskiyous is anathema to many environmentalists. "It's like a living highway of movement between two areas that are separated by development on the Rogue and Shasta Valleys," said Joseph Vaile, campaign coordinator for the Ashland- and Williams-based Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center. "The Siskiyou Crest is disproportionately important on the landscape." But openings like those that would be created with the construction of ski runs have been a part of the area since the days before European settlers arrived, according to Tom Atzet, southwest Oregon area ecologist for the Forest Service. Openings and a diversity of vegetation age classes are natural, and also were created by Native Americans who burned the land to increase forage for game and spur the growth of certain plants used for food, Atzet said. New ski runs are unlikely to block the movement of species, he said. "We have to evaluate whether it would be a fatal flaw as far as being detrimental to migration and dispersal pathways. The history of the area tells me that's probably not likely," Atzet said. Although species that prefer forested conditions would be stressed by tree clearing, a variation in vegetation type allows a greater diversity of species to migrate through the area, he said. But the landscape already has enough early vegetation stages because of human activities, according to George Sexton, conservation director for the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center. "That's a very narrow range of species that are already doing fine because there's such a preponderance of early successional stages," he said. "There's no shortage of deer, crows and robins." The DEIS does acknowledge that dispersal opportunities outside of protected forests, like those in the national monument and Mt. Ashland Late Successional Reserve near the ski area, are limited because of logging, Interstate 5 and other human activities and development. Expansion would cause a loss of undeveloped character in the area, according to the document. Alternative 6 would directly alter 36.5 acres of the 9,425 acre McDonald Peak Roadless Area below the existing ski area, and would create an overall loss of undeveloped character on 56.2 acres. The roadless area has been untouched by logging or road building, according to the DEIS. "The incremental loss of habitat through the proposed activity would affect, long-term, the landscape by increasing fragmentation of roadless and 'unentered' areas; this would concurrently decrease the contribution of the local area as a favorable habitat corridor and refugia, by increasing edge effects for interior species," the document states. But new ski runs are not likely to be a significant factor affecting landscape dispersal and migration processes, according to the DEIS. Loss of old growth Environmentalists also are worried about the unavoidable loss of old growth trees. "Any proposals to encroach on old growth characteristics is a concern. We've fragmented and reduced old growth throughout the west. What we have left becomes increasingly valuable," said Cindy Deacon Williams, conservation director for the Ashland environmental group Headwaters and a former forest service official. The ski expansion area is dominated by late successional - or old growth - trees averaging greater than two feet in diameter, along with trees that average from one to two feet in diameter and are classified as mature, according to the DEIS. Alternative 6 involves clearing 31 acres of dense old growth and 3 acres of sparse old growth. Another 17 acres of dense mature forest and 15 acres of sparse mature forest would be cut, the document states. Nearly two million board feet of commercially sized trees greater than 12 inches would be cut. Along with non-commercial trees, about 10 percent of the larger trees would be placed on ski slopes to reduce erosion and return nutrients to the soil, according to the DEIS. The trees would be helicopter logged, with the ski area's parking lot used as a landing site, according to the DEIS. The logging would yield about 350 logging trucks worth of commercial quality timber. Even more trees could be felled by the expansion than those that are directly logged due to the presence of laminated root rot, the most damaging of all root diseases, according to the DEIS. Opening infected stands to wind could cause weakened trees to fall, the document states. The largest disease centers in the area are located where ski runs are proposed under all the expansion proposals, except Alternative 5, which allows only improvements within the existing area except for the new tubing facility, according to the DEIS. However, the effects of wind are not expected to be devastating, the DEIS predicts. "The rates of this effect are not expected to be catastrophic or out of the range of natural variation for forested stands on these sites," the document states. Englemann spruce The East Fork of Ashland Creek is home to more than 6 miles of Englemann spruce groves along riparian areas - the only population of the spruce in the Siskiyou Mountains, according to the DEIS. Englemann spruce is found in 21 Forest Service ecoplots in southwest Oregon and is common in the Cascades, the document states. Under Alternative 6, 41 of the trees would be felled; eight trees from 22 to 29 inches in diameter, one from 30 to 35 inches and none over 35 inches, according to the DEIS. The Middle Branch grove already has windthrown and broken trees due to the effects of insects and disease, according to the document. "That makes them more weak and prone to breakage. When you open the canopy, it's possible to see more breakage," said Ellen Goheen, a Southwest Oregon Insect and Disease Service Center plant pathologist who worked on the DEIS. However, the grove is in a relatively wind-sheltered location, according to Goheen and Forest Service sources. Root disease fungi can survive for decades in the root systems of dead trees and in root fragments. The fungi colonize uninfected trees through the ground, or through wind-borne spores that infect stumps and travel through roots, according to the DEIS. The DEIS recommends treating spruce and true fir stumps with borax to halt infection through that route, as well as removing all spruce logs greater than 12 inches in diameter within one year of felling to prevent the infestation and build-up of spruce beetles. The document predicts logging and any resultant windthrow would have no effect on the long-term viability of Englemann spruce in the Ashland Watershed. Wayne Rolle, a botanist for the Rogue River National Forest, said the issue in not about whether the spruce would survive. "A tiny bit of trees will be cut in this project. The issue is the pristine old late successional Englemann spruce grove with the big trees in it that's really beautiful," Rolle said. "There are a lot of aesthetic effects from ski runs. It's an area with real outstanding natural beauty. It's a special place. It may not feel so special - certainly not as wild - as it does now." According to the DEIS, more Englemann spruce trees would be logged under the Mt. Ashland Association proposal. Alternative 4, which would build a satellite ski area to the east on a knoll, would not impact the spruce, nor would Alternative 5, the infill proposal. Runs built downhill of existing runs but not to the west under Alternative 3 also would not affect the spruce. Wetlands Alternative 6 would affect 0.54 acres of the 42.52 acres of wetlands in the area, according to the DEIS. Both Alternatives 2 and 6 largely skirt a lower wetland except for a bridge crossing. "The plan involves placing ski runs on high, dry ridges away from water and wetlands," Hanson said. The Forest Service proposes using log supports laid on the surface to support the bridge to eliminate the need to excavate for concrete footings, an idea supported by Hanson. Alternative 6 also calls for the use of a lightweight spider instead of heavy tracked machinery to do work. Still, some people remain concerned that work in the wetlands area could cave in natural underground pipes that carry water there. "If that natural piping is broken, chances are that would disrupt flows in very unpredictable ways," said John Sully, a retired plant ecologist for the California Department of Transportation and a Rogue Group Sierra Club member. "There's certainly an opportunity for that," agreed Bill Granger, a senior environmental manager for the SE Group in Bellevue, Wash., which contributed to the DEIS. "Measures have to be put in place to prevent that - for instance, placing mats around the construction area so that the spider or excavator is not on the surface. It's on a deck that spreads the weight around." Snow logging proposed around wetlands in the DEIS also would safeguard the piping, according to Peter Jones, a Rogue River and Siskiyou National Forests geotechnical engineer. Although Jones does not expect piping would be crushed, he said groundwater flows accidentally brought to the surface would flow back down into holes because the piping network has myriad openings. "The water would flow into the next hole. There are plenty of pathways. It's like a sponge. There's not one entry and one exit into a sponge," he said. Sully also raised concerns that clearing trees through the wetland and Englemann grove would expose the site to the drying effects of wind and sun. "There's heavy shading from the trees. To cut the trees down and say you can mitigate the loss of trees is simply not true," he said. "If you expose slopes to wind and sunlight, you destroy the environment that allows the spruce grove to grow in there." Granger said cutting trees would be more of a danger if the wetland was a seasonal wetland in a depression where surface water collected, instead of being an area where surface water and groundwater flows through. As for the 333 acres of riparian reserves that line waterways in the area, Alternative 6 would involve clearing 4.74 acres and grading 1.24 acres, according to the DEIS. Riparian areas have high numbers of invertebrates that provide food for mammals, including bats, and habitat for breeding birds, according to the document. Clearing could decrease riparian plant diversity and the number of invertebrates, small mammals, predators and birds, the DEIS states. Rare species No northern spotted owl pairs are known to nest within the ski area's Special Use Permit area, which includes the existing development and areas proposed for expansion, according to the DEIS. The expansion area provides, at best, forage and roosting habitat but no nesting habitat, the document states. Alternative 6 would remove 1.2 percent of forage and roosting habitat near one owl site, and 0.2 percent of habitat near a second site, according to the DEIS. Reducing the owls' habitat remains a concern for environmental groups. "The northern spotted owl is continuing to decline more rapidly than had been anticipated. We're concerned about continuing to degrade its habitat," said Vaile of the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center. Expanding runs would send more skiers over a fraction of the habitat of the Mount Ashland lupine, found only on the mountain, and Henderson's horkelia, found from the mountain to 17 miles southwest. The Mount Ashland populations of the plants are found near the summit in open areas on flat, south and west-facing slopes, according to the DEIS. "Is there any effect? We don't think there is, but we can't rule it out," said Rolle, the Forest Service botanist. He noted that skiers have been skiing down the south side of the mountain outside the ski area for decades and plants continue to thrive there. In response to petitions filed by the Rogue Group Sierra Club to list the plants under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ruled this year that overall threats to the two plant species are generally low, with most impacts due to summer trampling. The agency and the Forest Service have signed a Conservation Agreement to take steps to protect the plants, including controlling summit parking and restoring gullies. Alternative 6 may affect individuals or habitat but will not likely contribute to a trend toward listing the plants under the Endangered Species Act, or cause a loss of viability to the population or species, according to the DEIS. Another species of concern for environmental groups is the weasel-like Pacific fisher, which is proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Pacific fishers were photographed repeatedly in the ski area's Special Use Permit area using bait stations set up to test for the presence of the animal, according to the DEIS. Hanson said in addition to forests, Pacific fishers use existing meadows in the area, where they prey on gophers. The animals primarily use old growth forest, with some reports of use in non-timbered habitats, according to the DEIS. The presence of the Pacific fisher highlights the importance of the connectivity corridor along the Siskiyou Crest that links the Cascade and coast ranges, Vaile said. "The fisher is an old growth forest-dependent species. It's been pretty much wiped out across its range. If the fisher is ever going to naturally rebound, it's going to be because of gene flow," he said. The process continues Comments on the DEIS can be mailed to John Schuyler, Acting District Ranger, Ashland Ranger District, 645 Washington St., Ashland, OR 97520; faxed to 858-2402; or e-mailed to [email protected]. The Ashland City Council has directed city staff to delve into possible effects of the expansion, including economic, water quality and wildfire impacts, and report back to the council during a study session at noon on Monday, Sept. 22 at the Ashland Civic Center Council Chambers, 1175 E. Main St. The council will hold a public hearing to gather comments on the expansion at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 30 in the council chambers. The council then will discuss the ski expansion during a regular council meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 7, with possible discussions to continue on Tuesday, Oct. 21. Comments to the Forest Service from the council and the public are due Oct. 23. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -