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Workshops will view forest options By PAUL FATTIG PROSPECT � Joel King figures folks with differing views of public forestland management ought to be communicative, not confrontational. The ranger in charge of the Prospect and Butte Falls ranger districts has scheduled two public workshops on March 17 to discuss and review the Mill Creek timber sale and the Highway 62 corridor project. "At a time when people are avoiding each other and not talking, we plan on exploring our relations," he said. "We want to get people to talk to each other." The day will begin with participants meeting at 9 a.m. at the Prospect Ranger District office, followed by a tour of the timber sale, which is spread throughout the Mill Creek drainage. The group, which will travel by bus, will return to the district office by 12:30 p.m. for lunch. Participants should bring their own lunches. The second workshop begins at 2 p.m. with the buses touring the Highway 62 corridor where the agency plans to establish four demonstration plots. The buses will return to the district office at 4 p.m. Participants are invited to a barbecue potluck at the district office at 4:30 p.m. They are asked to bring a salad, side dish or dessert. "I�ll buy the hamburger," King said. Anyone interested in participating should contact the district office at 560-3400 by March 15. During the morning tour of the timber sale, Forest Service specialists will discuss options while getting public input, King said. In its draft environmental impact statement, or EIS, released late last year, the Forest Service came up with five alternatives � from no action to harvesting up to 65.4 million board feet of timber on some 6,700 acres in the watershed. The work would be spread over a 10-year period. The main goal of the sale is to reduce the potential for catastrophic fires and improve forest health, officials said. The Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center, an environmental group based in Williams, is concerned that the logging activity would cause soil compaction, cut into the roadless areas that border Crater Lake National Park and result in clearcutting. But a spokesman for the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association applauded the alternative that would cut the most timber, noting it would provide jobs for local workers. The agency received 20 comments during the public comment period ending Jan. 16. "We�re going to have another response period before we make a decision," King said, noting that the extended presidential election late last year may have drawn attention away from the project. "It�s not our intent to bypass anyone," he said. Jack Williams, supervisor of both the Rogue River and the Siskiyou national forests, is expected to make a decision on the timber sale later this year. In the Highway 62 corridor project, the agency is considering how to preserve what many consider the world�s largest stand of giant sugar pine. Many of the area�s giant trees, weakened by disease and insect infestations brought on by fire suppression over the years, are dying, according to agency scientists. The agency is developing four demonstration plots at the intersection of Woodruff Road and Highway 62 about six miles north of the ranger district office. Each site will reflect a different type of management, including no action, light thinning from below, heavy thinning under the canopy around large pines and prescribed burning. The goal of the four plots is to give the public a better understanding of the impact on each management method. "Right now, if you want to go somewhere to see big trees, you go to Prospect or Butte Falls," King said. "Fifty years from now, if you want to go somewhere to see big trees, we want it to still be Prospect or Butte Falls. We don�t want to do anything to change that." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.