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Reduced Mill Creek timber cut gets nod The Rogue River Forest will allow 39.9 million board feet to be logged on 4,841 acres By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune PROSPECT -- Nearly 40 million board feet (mmbf) of timber will be cut in the Mill Creek drainage of the Prospect Ranger District over the next decade. The record of decision for the controversial "Mill Creek timber sales and related activities," signed by Rogue River National Forest Supervisor Jack Williams on Friday, is being released today. The 39.9 mmbf harvest, using a variety of methods from helicopters to tractors, will be spread over 4,841 acres on 209 different units. No clearcutting or new road construction is called for in the decision. In addition, no trees larger than 25 inches in diameter will be cut unless there is a biological need, according to the decision. The decision is a pared down version of the proposed action in the 2000 draft environmental impact statement, which called for 65.4 mmbf of timber to be harvested from 6,700 acres during a 10-year period. That proposal drew harsh criticism from environmentalists, citing concerns about a negative impact on the watershed and soils. The principal goals of the project are to improve forest health while reducing the potential for catastrophic fires, officials said. In comparison, the annual harvest level on the Rogue River forest is 25 mmbf while the Siskiyou's annual cut is 24 mmbf. The Bureau of Land Management's Medford District annual allowable cut is 57 mmbf. Williams, who is also supervisor of the Siskiyou forest, noted in the document that his decision has the second lowest benefit-cost ratio of the half-dozen alternatives considered. He wrote that he chose the alternative, "not because of its economic value or because it makes money, but because it can be done economically and will improve the forest." The decision also allows the private sector to help improve forest health, he added. Much of the harvest will involve the thinning of younger stands, said Prospect District Ranger Joel King. "We want to focus and maintain the large tree component on public lands - the Prospect district is ideal for that," King said Monday afternoon. "We also wanted to emphasize the need and improvement for elk habitat in the area." Forest officials, who dropped several higher elevation stands from the proposed larger cut, considered the input from the public during two comment periods, he observed. "But some folks will say the cut isn't enough - others will say it goes too far," King said. Dave Hill, executive vice president of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association, is happy with the harvest level in the final decision. "It's definitely a good decision," Hill said. "If you have visited any of the management areas on the ground that are affected by this decision, you can easily see the practices which will be implemented are forest-health oriented. "The timber sales are primarily thinning of smaller diameter timber," he added. "The stands should be healthier after it's all done." With the work spread out over a decade, the decision should also offer a steadying influence on the regional economy, he said. "It'll produce local timber for the local economy," he said. But Jay Lininger, a representative of the Ashland-based Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, is waiting to read the fine print in the 43-page document. Any clearcutting or heavy use of mechanized logging would raise the "red flags," he said. "Those kinds of activities and overcutting can harm the hydrological function of that watershed," he said. "The upper Rogue watershed is heavily overcut already." Yet the group shouldn't be construed as opposed to all activity in the drainage, he stressed. "We're very supportive of the restorative thinning that is planned in tree plantations that were clearcut before and now need work," he said. "Those areas really should be worked on. They also provide good opportunities for work in the woods." Anyone with concerns over the decision has 45 days to make an administrative appeal. Copies of the decision will be available at the Prospect Ranger District office as well as the forest headquarters in Medford. 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.