Improving forest health: New ideas may boost economy, too

By James Day

Some assistance might be on the way for the timber industry in the Santiam Canyon.

The United States Forest Service is working with the North Santiam Watershed Council and timber concerns to establish a special forest products industry in the Willamette National Forest.

The Forest Service has received a $24,000 grant from the National Forest Foundation to help the project germinate, and a status update for stakeholders will be held Feb. 14 at the Watershed Council office in Stayton.

To date the Forest Service has led tours of areas that might be suitable for special forest products companies, which include firewood, bough and moss gatherers, post and pole operations as well as traditional logging firms.

“We’ve managed timber in the Willamette National Forest for 100 years, but we’ve never tried anything like this,” Forest Services Natural Resources Supervisor Darren Cross said during a tour of two Willamette National Forest sites.

“We’re not trying to put things back,” Cross said. “Instead we’re trying to imagine what (the forest) will look like in 30, 50 or 100 years.

“A traditional timber harvest is not workable. But what does different look like? This is not the way we normally do business in the Willamette National Forest. We normally do timber sales.”

As he made his remarks Cross was standing in a distressed grove of trees.

The firs were not spaced properly, making it harder for sunlight to reach them. Competition for resources has made them more susceptible to insects, disease, blowdowns and snow breakage.

What’s the problem?

Because of budget issues the stands, all composed of trees less than 40 years old, never were thinned.

Trees that should be 13 to 14 feet apart are suffocating just eight feet from their neighbors.

It’s a problem that exists in hundreds of stands throughout the Willamette National Forest, perhaps totaling as much as 12,000 acres overall.

Progress has been slow on getting a special forest products industry up and running.

Environmental assessments must be done and stewardship contracts firmed up. In a stewardship contract the special forest products are “traded” for the service the industry provides, such as thinning and clearing brush.

Grady McMahan, district ranger for the Willamette National Forest in Detroit, said the Forest Service is working on stewardship contracts for posts, poles and firewood on two units near Camp Pioneer, a Boy Scout facility south of Marion Forks. The units could go out to bid as early as late summer.

In addition, McMahan and the Forest Service are going through the same process with some bear grass, moss and bough collectors, although they likely won’t be put out for bid until next year.

“We’re really hoping we get a lot of interest,” said McMahan, who added that the Forest Service was hoping to organize another major tour of the region when the snow melts in the spring.

Staffers of Oregon’s congressional delegation have been monitoring the effort.

Fritz Graham of Sen. Ron Wyden’s office and Trevor Sleeman from Rep. Kurt Schrader’s staff, participated in a May tour of the forest.

“I’m just out here listening,” Sleeman said. “I learned a lot. The process could have an economic impact. The area sure could use it.”