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CLOUDY Temp: 56 °F Wind: NNW at 5 mph Saturday, June 21, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend May 25, 2003 Government remains undecided about salvage By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune More than 130 million board feet of timber could be salvaged on federal land burned by last summer’s Biscuit and Timbered Rock fires, according to Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management estimates. But the agencies are quick to caution those figures are as rough as old-growth fir bark. No decision yet has been made concerning federal timberland salvage on either fire. Both environmental and economic impacts are being considered. In the 465,000-acre Biscuit fire, which burned largely in the Siskiyou National Forest, more than 100 million board feet could be offered for salvage, said Judy McHugh, a spokeswoman for the forest’s Biscuit Fire Recovery Project. Advertisement That could include 90 million from 7,000 acres of matrix land dedicated for timber management and another 14 million from areas earmarked for fuel management, she said. But those figures are tentative, she stressed. For instance, the figure for the fuel management area is based on a paper estimate, she said. "That’s a number from a mapping exercise — we’re going out on the ground now to collect field data to better refine our analysis," she said. She said it’s important to differentiate between the amount of overall standing dead volume and that which can be reasonably accessed. The Forest Service has determined that any salvage stand has to be within two miles of a road to provide a reasonable economic return, she said. "When we talk about the number of salvage timber available, there can be all the timber in the universe out there, but it has to have reasonable access," she said. The Biscuitfire left 79,700 acres of standing dead trees in stands with greater than 50 percent mortality, she said. If all land-use constraints are ignored, some 160 million board feet of timber could be salvaged, according to the agency’s estimates. But that includes stands in inventoried roadless areas where it is agency policy not to salvage, McHugh said. The forest contains about 143,000 acres of inventoried roadless area as well as nearly 200,000 acres of wilderness, where federal law forbids salvage. A draft environmental impact statement on the Biscuit fire salvage and restoration is expected in late June or early July, followed by a public comment period extending into September. The final EIS is set to be completed by late October, with a decision expected at the end of the year. Forest employees have been working to complete the job as quickly as possible, McHugh said. So have BLM employees working in the aftermath of the 27,000-acre Timbered Rock fire, noted Jeanne Klein, spokeswoman for the agency’s Medford District. "Right now the alternatives for timber salvage (on Timbered Rock) is from zero to 30 million (board feet)," she said. The fire burned about 12,000 BLM acres, although only a portion was blackened entirely. The next largest landowner is Boise Corp., which is salvaging about 20 million board feet on its roughly 9,000 burned acres. The BLM expects to complete its draft EIS on the Timbered Rock fire management plan in July, followed by a 60-day public comment period, Klein said. The annual allowable timber harvest on the Siskiyou forest is 24 million board feet; the BLM's Medford District's annual allowable cut is 57 million board feet. However, those target figures have not been hit in recent years. About 20,000 board feet of lumber is required to build a moderate three-bedroom, two-bath house. Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times