18 Spring 2017 Applegater
Upper Applegate
Demonstration Treatment Units
BY DON BOUCHER
On December 9, 2016, personnel
at the Rogue River-Siskiyou National
Forest gave Applegate residents a tour
of the Upper Applegate Demonstration
Units so they could review and discuss
the treatments and study methodology.
Over 20 people attended the field trip.
The Upper Applegate Demonstration
Units were designed to evaluate fuel and
restoration treatments in a statistically
creditable way. Crossing the boundaries
of Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
and US Forest Service (USFS) land, these
demonstration sites serve as locations for
tours to engage stakeholders.
On these sites, four treatment
alternatives were replicated
eight times on ten-acre units in a
blocked experimental design. Units and
permanent plots were established and
measured in 2005 with noncommercial
treatments completed between then
and 2016. Planned merchantable tree
removal will be completed in spring
2017, and plots will be measured after
treatment. This work overlaps the Upper
Applegate Road project on USFS lands,
approved by the National Environmental
Policy Act. These demonstration
units will provide opportunities for
public engagement, dialogue, and
understanding of alternative fuels and
restoration treatments with carefully
designed, side-by-side examples.
The field trip in December
stimulated many informative and valuable
discussions regarding the demonstration
units. Some comments focused on overall
management of USFS lands. We heard
that, in general, Applegate residents
support active management with a strong
preference for comprehensive restoration
that includes attention to the understory,
invasive species control, and native plant
seeding. Field trip participants wanted
treatments to focus on meeting fuel-
reduction and restoration objectives
while minimizing impacts. Additionally,
participants expressed a strong desire that
we review and monitor past units where
thinning has occurred.
The protection and retention of
legacy trees (including hardwoods) was
widely supported, and there appeared
to be some support for a skips-and-
gaps approach to treatments. The
herbaceous monitoring component
of the demonstration plots was of
interest, especially the preservation of the
herbaceous understory in clumps.
The use of plastic to cover
slash piles was another topic of
discussion. Several people were quite
adamant that the use of plastic could
be a “wall” to community support and
suggested that the USFS test the efficacy
of alternatives such as Kraft paper or no
cover. The USFS recognizes that public
support depends on careful project
implementation and contract oversight
for cleanup of polyethylene and the
prevention of undesirable impacts.
Participants expressed the importance
of burning piles within two years and
removing plastic from any piles left
unburned. Testing different methods
fits well with the concept of adaptive
management, and we will be looking
at ways we can address the concern of
plastic-covered slash piles.
The USFS will finalize
treatment prescriptions for the
various demonstration units this spring.
Then a comment period will allow the
community to review and comment on
the prescriptions and on the designation
of trees to be cut. Some time in March,
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The Four
Treatment Alternatives
Control
No treatment
Fuels Thinning
Thin from below
Retain consistent canopy cover
Minimal Fuels
Thin only fuels <7” in diameter
at breast height
Ecological Restoration
Restore fire resistance
Promote early seral tree species
Emphasize spatial patterning
Thin to reference densities
the Rogue River-Siskiyou National
Forest will hold a workshop to explain
how the trees are designated and offer
the community another chance to review
and comment on the marking of trees.
The USFS also hopes to give community
members a chance to do some sample
marking so they can experience the
process of deciding which trees are cut.
The plan of the demonstration
project includes using some abandoned
ditch lines as trails for access to the units to
facilitate review of the treatments, though
there is currently no formal decision in
place to do so. An environmental analysis
would be needed first. Comments
during the field trip suggested that the
USFS needs to consider how to prevent
motorized use of these trails.
We are hoping to implement
the demonstration units in the
late spring or early summer. During
implementation, we will provide
opportunities for community members
to view operations as well as to review
units post-treatment. We are in the
process of preparing a website where
background information and monitoring
results will be available.
If you have questions, comments,
or other thoughts, please feel free to
contact me.
Don Boucher
541-899-3840
Stewardship Coordinator
Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest
dboucher@fs.fed.us