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SATURDAY December 6, 2003 - Subscribe - Contact Us Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels November 28, 2003 636 acres to be thinned in Ashland Watershed Effort is geared to reduce risk of wildfire in vital area By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Crews will have thinned 636 acres of the nearly 1,550 acre Ashland Watershed Protection Project after the completion of work planned for this fall, winter and spring. On-the-ground work to reduce wildfire risk on Ashland Ranger District lands in the watershed is entering its third season with the return of wet weather. The 8-to-12-year project was approved in 2001 by Ashland District Ranger Linda Duffy, who is currently on sabbatical, after years of community debate about how best to treat the watershed. Years of wildfire suppression have left the watershed overgrown and vulnerable to a large, high-intensity fire that could threaten the municipal water supply. More rainfall is needed before U.S. Forest Service and private Grayback Forestry crews begin burning piles of material previously hand cut from 197 acres, according to Robert Schoemaker, assistant fire management officer and fuels planner for the Ashland and Applegate Ranger Districts. "We're waiting for a window of opportunity for burning," he said. "We're going to have some good sized acreages." In addition to burning existing piles, crews will hand cut and pile material on another 200 acres during the wet season for burning next winter, according to Shoemaker. In previous seasons, crews cut, piled and burned material on 176 acres, he said. The Forest Service is concentrating treatment on units that are closest to the urban-wildlands interface, where Ashland homes meet the forest, in the first years of the project. While treatment so far has concentrated on small diameter trees and brush, the Forest Service hopes to conduct helicopter logging to thin commercially-sized trees on 63 acres this spring, according to Acting Ashland District Ranger John Schuyler. Trees larger than 17 inches in diameter will not be logged unless they must be removed to ensure workers' safety. In her 2001 decision authorizing the project, Duffy imposed the 17-inch-diameter limit in response to community concerns about the cutting of large trees. The spring logging will occur on four units nearest the interface, according to Schuyler. The Forest Service decided against logging units first that would yield the most commercially valuable timber with the lowest cost, he said. "We wanted to treat units that are strategic from an urban interface fuels situation," Schuyler said. The Forest Service hopes to time the helicopter logging to coincide with an Ashland Forest Lands Commission plan thin city-owned lands in the watershed through helicopter logging. "We're trying to have the Forest Service project in the market at the same time as the city project," Schuyler said. "The hope is that a helicopter operator would say, 'It's worth my while.'" While helicopter logging causes less damage to soils, it is an expensive method. The sale of trees helps cover costs, especially if the timber market is strong. However, a Forest Service preliminary proposal to salvage log 518 million board feet of timber from portions of the 499,965 acre Biscuit Fire area west of Grants Pass could complicate city and Ashland Ranger District treatment efforts. A combined city and Ashland Ranger District helicopter logging project would yield less than one million board feet, according to Schuyler and Ashland Forest Lands Commission documents. "Biscuit is so big it's like an elephant compared to a flea - and the Ashland Watershed Protection Project is the flea," Schuyler said. "Biscuit would involve multiple (logging) projects. It could have a definite impact on timber in terms of supply and demand. It might have an impact both in terms of price and availability of people to do the work. On the other hand, if it's bringing operators into the area, they could squeeze in the work because it's so small." Forest Service officials plan to issue a decision on the Biscuit Fire salvage logging issue as soon as late March of next year, according to Forest Service Biscuit Fire Recovery Project Spokesperson Judy McHugh. The entire cost for the Ashland Watershed Protection Project is estimated at about $1.5 million, Schuyler said. He said he is confident that the Forest Service will continue to allocate funds to carry out the project, especially for the manual treatment portions that make up the vast majority of the work. Meanwhile, planning continues to go beyond the Ashland Watershed Protection Project and treat even more of the 15,000 acre watershed, according to Schuyler. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Road Cams