Spilyqy Tyrooo, Warm Springs, Oregon
November 24, 2005
Pe 11
Timber harvest discussion includes fisheries, cultural resources
(An interdisciplinary It am from
tht Forts fry and Natural Rtsourcts
branchts has bttn colliding tribal
mtmbtr nmmtnts on a timbtr salt
btingpropostd for 2007. Rtsponses
to a number of comments and con
cerns art included with this articlt.
Tht Winttrgrttn 2007 Timber
Salt will targtt approximately 38.2
milion board feet of timber in the
upper Warm Springs RJi'tr water
shed. The following is tht conclu
sion of an articlt tsplaining tribal
member comments rtgarding the
salt, and rtsponsts to tht com
ments.) In answering a question on
spotted owls the wildlife biolo
gist said the population has ex
perienced a significant decline
over the past decade (approxi
mately 50 percent). Several fac
tors such as habitat loss and
fragmentation due to logging
have contributed to this decline,
as well as competition from
barred owls, and prcdation from
other avian raptors. There is
only one spotted owl nesting ter
ritory within this sale area and
three others bordering the sale.
In all likelihood the impacts of
the sale will have a much greater
affect on the owls than the owls
will have on the outcome of the
sale.
Tribal members have ex
pressed concern over the possi
bility of disease affecting the
local deer herd. The health of
the deer observed on the reser
vation appears to be good so far,
but there have been some re
cent disease outbreaks off res
ervation on ceded lands. The
recent outbreak of Adeno
hemoragic disease (ADH) at
Crooked River Ranch, Culver,
and Oneil Junction has subsided,
but is now reported in the Sis
ters area. All sick, or suspected
to be infected, deer should be
reported to the Branch of atii- ,
ral Resources - Fish and Wild
life immediately.
In response to a question
about the stability of the
waterdog (assumed to be sala
mander or newt) population it
was stated these amphibians are
native to the area and prevalent
in some streams, springs,
waterholes and wet meadows.
They may, however, be difficult
to locate during the dry season.
We have not inventoried these
amphibians, but there does not
seem to be any significant de
cline on the reservation. Am
phibians such as frogs, toads,
salamanders, and newts are ex
hibiting declines on a global
scale, and are the primary indi
cator species for water quality
and environmental conditions.
Range
Tribal members wanted to
know whether or not meadows
are protected and the range con
servationists said a 300-foot
buffer protects meadows from
most management activities. In
the case of Big Meadow, which
is approximately 800 acres in
size, the area is partially fenced
to control livestock grazing.
Trees continue to encroach on
meadows for two primary rea
sons. Wildfires that once con
trolled the trees and now sup
pressed, and the dryer climatic
conditions of recent years are
favorable to encroaching tree
species.
Tribal members are con
cerned about juniper trees and
their ability to out-compete many
other plants. Juniper trees are
increasing in density, both on the
grasslands and within wood
lands, but efforts are being made
to control them. Herbicides are
not used to control juniper trees
on the reservation, but Wildland
Urban Interface projects are
being designed to reduce densi
ties in some areas.
Cultural Resources
The archeologist answered a
question about cultural resource
protection by saying a back
ground search is completed be
fore any project is implemented.
The search takes into account
existing survey data, historical
documents and oral histories.
Next the area is inventoried for
cultural resources (historic, pre
historic, cultural plants etc.),
meaning an archaeologist and a
trained crew looking for cultural
resources walks the impacted
area. If cultural resources are
identified during a survey, modi
fications are made to the project
to avoid damage to the resource.
High country areas on the res
ervation are inventoried for
cultural resources as well as the
lower elevation areas, and all site
types (which includes burial
sites) are given the same pro
tection. If human remains are en
countered during an inventory,
they are left in place. The BIA
representative, Tribal Historic
Preservation Officer, Cultural
Resources program manager,
Culture and Heritage Commit
tee, and Warm Springs Police are
all contacted. Once it has been
determined the site is not a
crime scene, the remains are left
in place and measures are taken
to protect the area from dam
age during project implementa
tion. Fisheries and Water
There was a question at one
of the scoping meetings regard
ing channelization of streams,
and it was noted that very few
streams on the reservation have
been subjected to this practice,
with Shitike Creek and Beaver
Creek being the most noteable
exceptions. Shitike Creek has
been channelized numerous
times from its mouth to the area
known as the Headworks, pri
marily to -keep me creek from
flooding the community area.
Segments of Beaver Creek have
been channelized along Highway
26. These channelization
projects have resulted in the dis
connection of both Beaver and
Shitike creeks from much of
their floodplains, which has in
creased summer water tempera
tures. Channelization has also re
sulted in the loss of complex fish
habitat such as large deep pools,
side channels and backwater
areas that provide fish rearing
habitat.
The width of stream buffers
listed as JRMP standards are a
minimum of 100 feet for Class
I streams, 60 feet for Class II
streams, and 30 feet for Class
III streams. Riparian buffers on
the reservation are managed to
allow natural processes to occur,
which is important in providing
quality fish habitat.
One person wanted to know
if bug-killed trees are harvested
in riparian areas and generally
they are not. Dead trees in ri
parian buffers provide habitat
for cavity nesting birds and
mammals, and once they have
fallen to the stream, they can
also provide habitat for fish.
Only under extenuating circum
stances would harvest of bug
killed trees occur within ripar
ian buffers.
Mill
There were a number of
questions regarding loggers and
Warm Springs Forest Products
Industries (WSFPI). Questions
about ongoing operations
brought the response that tribal
crews have nearly completed
the Log Springs salvage sale and
are ready to move into new ar
eas. Logging contracts for the
Wintergreen sale will go to tribal
members, but there are no tribal
high lead loggers, so cable log
ging will be put out to bid.
In reference to a question on
scaling it was noted that small
white wood, Douglas fir and
ponderosa pine logs arc on a
one-in-three sample scale. De
pending on the amount of pine,
it may be 100 percent scale.
There are eight tribal allotments
located completely or partially
within the bounds of the tim
ber sale area. The scaling fre
quency on tribal allotments is
100 percent. We have not tried
cubic scale in part because other
federal agencies once adopted
this approach, but are now phas
ing it out and returning to
Scribner-scale. In general, the
cruised volume differs from the
scaled volume by about 10 per
cent. WSFPI may or may not pro
cess ponderosa pine. Generally,
there is not enough big and small
pine to run at WSFPI, so it is
sold to other mills. 1 lowcver,
there are times when the mill
does process ponderosa pine.
Log Springs Fire salvage is a
good example.
A question arose about the
economic value of incense ce
dar. The mill does receive an
economic return for incense
cedar. These trees are worth
more as a merchantable log
than as firewood.
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