The Baker County press., October 02, 2015, Image 11

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015
Local & Entertainment
County Commissioners
hold meeting with
Forest Service
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 4
Montoya explained that
82 miles of forest roads
have been identifi ed as
areas where trees need to
be marked and removed to
ensure motorist safety. In
addition to the forest roads
Montoya reports about 12
miles of the Dooley Moun-
tain Highway (OR-Hwy.
245) may be bordered by
hazardous trees. The USFS
assessment looks at about
150-feet on both sides of
the roadways to determine
hazards caused by trees.
Commissioner Ben-
nett pointed out the steep
terrain to Montoya and
Oliver and fi rst questions
the 150-foot limitation
and secondly, along with
Harvey, asks the USFS to
expand the area of as-
sessing hazardous trees to
200-feet on either side of
the roadways.
Harvey next spoke about
the diminishing value of
burned timber and asked
for progress on USFS
administered timber sales
to salvage areas on the
burned timber stands.
Montoya answered that
no timber sales have been
released yet and that agen-
cy timber cruisers were
currently assessing timber
stands for harvest viability
on the open (Level 2 to 5)
roads.
Harvey responded that
the USFS should look at
timber stands on all exist-
ing roads regardless of
USFS road maintenance
levels.
During the discussion
Harvey introduced the
need for the USFS to begin
timber thinning projects
in the dense timber stands
as a method of raising
revenue for the USFS.
Harvey believes the rev-
enue generated from those
timber thinning projects
need to be directed back to
the local management of
USFS lands.
“Now, timber dollars go
The
back to Washington DC
and into a bottomless pit,”
said Harvey.
Harvey believes that
revenue derived from
sustains yields on timber
projects within Baker
County should be funded
back to the management
of the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest instead of
into the agency’s national
general fund and that this
would provide the needed
funding to maintain local
roads and forests.
During the discussion on
roads, Montoya mentioned
USFS personnel continue
to draw up the road analy-
sis (Sub-part A) portion
for the ongoing develop-
ment of the revision of
the Blue Mountain Forest
Plan. While information
on the road analysis has
not been released to the
public, Montoya said that
the USFS has planned an
informational meeting,
date and time yet to be
determined, with the Baker
County Commissioners.
Funding constraints are
an ongoing problem facing
the USFS and the county
as early development of
fi re recovery project plan-
ning takes place, according
to both Montoya and the
county commissioners.
The USFS currently
works on the Burn Area
Emergency Response
assessment and have
budgeted $230,000 for
road work, replacement
of culverts, and hazardous
tree removal.
Montoya explained that
existing culverts are being
replaced by larger culverts
in anticipation of greater
water runoff due to loss of
timber and foliage.
Another $140,000 has
been budgeted by the
agency for mulching in
the Stices Gulch area to
control soil erosion. This
project takes existing trees
in the area and grinds them
into mulch to be worked
into the unstable soil.
Besides funding
limitations, the USFS faces
other obstacles in drawing
timber harvest contracts
on the agency managed
land. Area limitations
of 250-acres per fi re are
imposed for emergency fi re
timber salvage projects.
Montoya said that the
Windy Ridge Fire and
the Cornet Creek Fire are
considered by the agency
as one fi re limiting the
30,000 acres of USFS
lands burned within that
complex to timber salvage
of only 250-acres.
Beyond the emergency
timber salvage operation,
any timber salvage beyond
the 250-acre limitation re-
quires the agency to enact
a procedure referred to as
an Environmental Assess-
ment, which could take 12
to 18 months to complete,
according to Montoya.
Harvey countered by ex-
plaining that within the 12
to 18 months to complete
an Environmental Assess-
ment, burned pine lumber
loses most of its value
and timber contractors fail
to bid on those delayed
contracts due to that loss
of value. Harvey said that
pine value viability is lim-
ited to within the fi rst year
after the burn.
When addressing the
changing nature of forest
fi res to what has become a
pattern of catastrophic in
the forests, Harvey quoted
a recent statement by
USFS Chief Tom Tidwell,
“This is the new normal.”
Harvey countered, “Not
here.”
When asked for a
timeline on the release of
timber contracts within the
250-acres of each forest
fi re within Baker County,
Montoya answered an
expectation that loggers
would be in the forests cut-
ting trees by this Novem-
ber.
SEE USFS MEETING
PAGE 12
Baker County Press
Subscribe Today!
Name:
Address:
City, State, Zip:
Email address:
Phone:
E-Only
$29.95/yr.
Print
(Delivery)
$39.95/yr.
Inside Baker City
City Limits Only
Print
(Mail)
$49.95/yr.
Outside Baker City
City Limits Only
1. Make check payable to: Black Lyon Publishing, LLC
2. Mail the check with this completed form to:
PO Box 567, Baker City, Ore. 97814
To pay by credit card, please visit www.Th eBakerCountyPress.com
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 11
Bebe’s word search
This week’s crossword puzzle
Across
1- Executioner;
10- Stormed;
15- Purgatorial;
16- Papal garment;
17- Group of instru-
ments;
18- Tending to a defi -
nite end;
19- Actress Ruby;
20- Actress Zellweger;
22- Suffi x with meteor;
23- Ladies of Spain:
Abbr.;
25- First name in avia-
tion;
28- Online brokerage;
31- Noble woman;
33- Pardon;
34- Covered with
scaly spots;
35- Cyst;
37- In the fi rst place;
41- Jazz fan?;
46- Proximity;
47- Revolve;
48- Norwegian arctic
explorer;
49- ___ yellow rib-
bon...;
50- 7th Greek letter;
51- Wearies;
56- Stool pigeon;
57- Nouveau ___;
60- Tropical fruit;
63- Turns away;
64- Breakaway;
65- Remove;
66- Pachyderms;
Down
1- Salty Mideastern
body;
2- Adepts;
3- Becomes visible;
4- Carrere of “True
Lies”; 5- Laughing syl-
lable;
6- Asterisk;
7- Speck of dust;
8- Make ___ for it;
9- AMEX counterpart;
10- Go bad;
11- Exist;
12- U.S. space probe
to Jupiter;
13- Snob;
14- Die;
21- Otic protection;
24- ___ Paulo;
26- Half;
27- Conclusion;
29- Godlike;
30- Rudimentary com-
ponent;
31- Rapture;
32- Former nuclear
agcy.;
36- Family nickname;
37- Animate;
38- More substantial;
39- Cure-all;
40- Monopoly quartet:
Abbr.;
42- Guggenheim
display;
43- Kind of turn;
44- Pigged out;
45- Tidies up;
52- ___ dixit;
53- Monetary unit of
Cambodia;
54- Suffi x with exist;
55- Ooze;
58- Timecard abbr.;
59- Legal conclusion?;
61- Tree used to make
baseball bats;
62- Largest book of
the OT;