Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 12, 2006)
Spilydy Tyrooo, W arm Springs, Oregon O ctober 12, 2 0 0 6 Page 9 comment B y B ill Rhoades For the Spilyay An interdisciplinary team from the Forestry and Natural Resources branches has been collecting tribal member com ments on a timber sale being proposed for 2008 and other ongoing projects involving tim ber harvest. Responses to a number of comments and concerns are in cluded with this article. The Sugar Pine 2008 timber sale will target approximately 13 million board feet of timber primarily near Twin Buttes. The harvest approximates the annual allowable cut (recal culated every five years) for this planning unit, which is based on long-term sustainability. The process for planning this sale officially began on August 1 when the project interdiscipli nary team (PIDT) completed its second and final scoping meet ing with the tribal public. Meet ings were held for Agency and Seekseequa districts at Agency Longhouse, and Simnasho Dis trict at Simnasho Longhouse, initiating the process to complete a draft plan. A slide show and maps were used to identify potential treat ment areas, which were de scribed by project leader John Arena and other members of the technical staff. A field re view of the proposed project area, and other recent projects, was conducted during the annual Timber Tour on September 20. The PIDT, which plans the sale and makes presentations to interested tribal members, is comprised of individuals from the Natural Resources and For estry technical staffs and com mittees. The team includes a fish biologist, forester, wildlife ecolo gist, hydrologist, fuels manager, forest engineer, silviculturist, archeologist, range conserva tionist, soil scientist, writer/edi tor, representatives from three tribal committees, and a repre sentative from Warm Springs Forest Products Industries (WSFPI). Comments from the scoping meetings are used to develop a planning document known as a project assessment. The assess ment contains alternatives for implementing the sale, a strat egy to monitor the sale after it has been implemented, and miti gation measures to offset nega tive impacts. After considering input from the tribal public, the PIDT will develop at least two action alternatives, each empha sizing a balanced approach to ' resource management. The team will present their assessment and recommended alternative to the Resource Management Interdisciplinary Team (RMIDT) this fall and they in turn release the assess ment for public review. Follow ing a 30-day review, RMIDT approves one of the alternatives and attaches a decision docu ment to the project assessment, which is then forwarded to the BIA superintendent for concur rence. Tribal member comments are accepted throughout the process at the main office of the Forestry Branch. The entire process and all management activities related to the forested area must adhere to goals, standards and best management practices adopted under the Integrated Resources Management Plan (IRMP) for the Forested Area. The plan, which strikes a balance between resource utilization and protec tion, is reviewed and updated every five years. The Sugar Pine 2008 timber sale is being proposed because it will generate revenue for the Confederated Tribes. The size and type of trees harvested will determine the value of stump- Bill Rhoades for the Spilyay The Sugar Pine 2008 timber sale will address forest health issues and generate income for the Confederated Tribes. age. These sales are designed to provide options for the WSFPI mill by creating a pantry of tim ber. Yearly harvests typically meet the allowable annual cut established by Tribal Council and provide jobs for tribal log gers and mill workers. smaller than they used to be, which results in lower quality lumber. There are also fewer trees being cut than there were historically, so the mill operates just one shift, processing 47 million board feet of logs and producing 70 million board feet of lumber. Timber The Sugar pine timber sale is named after sugar pine trees located prim arily on Twin Buttes. The volume projected from this sale is 13.1 million board feet, which will be har vested from throughout the project area. There may be some treatments in the ponderosa pine ground mostly to thin over stocked stands and reduce the number of dwarf mistletoe-in fected trees. All of the harvested timber will come from the commercial forest. There are no plans to harvest conditional use ground under this sale, although there is a fuel hazard in Whitewater canyon. There are several tree species found in the area including lodgepole pine, western white pine and white fir. Lodgepole pine is at the very western edge of the sale area where frost is common. Western white pine and white fir are found mostly in the cen tral portion of the sale area. White pine is susceptible to mistletoe, but is considered more resistant to diseases than the white fir. Dwarf mistletoe is a plant whose spores enters the host tree through its needles and devel ops a root system in the tree’s cambium. The prescription to treat misteltoe is to eradicate the plant through harvest or prun ing. Spraying is not effective. The quantity of timber cut in any given year is determined by the allowable cut, a volume determined by calculating the total growth of the forest. The allowable cut is equal to the forest’s annual growth. This cal culation is the responsibility of the Forestry Planning Depart ment and their calculations are presented to Tribal Council for their approval. There is very little information about what the growth was 50-years ago. How ever, forests of the past were older and generally slower grow ing. Timeframes for entering wa tersheds or forest planning units were originally established as once in a ten-year planning pe riod. Entries depend on harvest ing the projected volume. If the projected volume is not har vested during the first entry, another sale will have to be planned to get the remaining volume. There are research plots in the sale area that were established in 1984. Their purpose is to determine the number and size of trees needed to optimize growth and value in the ponde rosa pine ground. The quality of trees being harvested has changed some what over the years. The logs being processed today are Cultural Resources During the scoping process there was a great deal of tribal member interest in huckleber ries and how they are being managed. Ultimately, with any federal undertaking on the res ervation the federal agency, in this case the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), has the responsi bility to protect Traditional Cul tural Properties (TCPs), such a's a huckleberry patch. In the case of a timber sale, and in particular Pathfinder Block No. 19 that tribal mem bers have been talking about, it is the responsibility of the fed eral agency to ensure that all contractors are aware of how the contract should be con ducted, including the removal of all limbs, treetops and debris from the immediate area dur ing snow pack logging. If the contactor does not fulfill his or her obligation it is up to the BIA to take the ap propriate action. It is also the responsibility of the federal agency to rectify the situation. This includes the removal of all logging debris from the under story as soon as possible so that the Culture and Heritage Com mittee can assess the site to de termine it the plants will remain viable or not. If it is determined that too much damage has oc curred to the huckleberry plants, mitigation negotiations will have * to take place to determine the next steps. The BIA needs to work closely with the Culture and Heritage Committee, Cultural Resources Department, and the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer to ensure a speedy out come. The annual Timber Tour was scheduled in September, but the site in question was not in cluded on the agenda. Regarding other impacts to huckleberries, research has shown that while huckleberry plants are shade tolerant, berry production is greatly reduced when plants are shaded out by a dense overstory. The removal of part of the overstory, with minimal huckleberry distur bance, by logging over at least two feet of snow, may be nec essary for increased berry pro duction. when trees are healthy, but num addition to the undisturbed ar bers increase when the trees get eas within habitat clumps. Hid older and become stressed. ing cover will be provided by the The volume of merchantable abundant regeneration within the trees salvaged under the Bad area. ger Butte sale will be counted In answer to a question re against the allowable cut. How garding the analysis process and ever, if the trees have decayed why public comment isn’t sought and are no longer merchantable, for all salvage activies, it should they will not be charged against be noted the Metolius Bench or the cut. Peter Springs Salvage was done Burning will be avoided to under the categorical exclusion minimize lodgepole pine regen process because it was a small eration and fire damage or mor project and had to be completed tality to leave trees such as the in a timely manner. IRMP guide- hemlock and true fir. The goal *lines are used to determine is to advance natural succession which process to follow and in the area while reducing the RMIDT determines the extent fuel loads that lead to explosive of project analysis. wildfires. The categorical exclusion There will be some initial (CATX) process covers small ground disturbance that is un projects that are not considered avoidable, but a series of 2-8 significant enough to warrant a acre habitat clumps will be left full project assessment (PA). The to provide undisturbed vegeta CATX document is distributed tion within the salvage area. for comment amongst natural Designating skid trails and keep resources staff with copies pro ing the trails away from leave vided to the various tribal com settings will minimize potential mittees. If the natural resources logging damage. managers agree that project im Approximately 40 to 50 per pacts are minimal, the proposal cent of the tree cover will be and any attached mitigation goes retained, because only species to RMIDT for their final de affected by the bug kill are be termination. RMIDT decisions ing harvested. Douglas-fir, hem are made public through the lock and true fir will be left, in tribal newspaper H azardous Fuels Recuction (HFR)/Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Another treatment that has drawn interest from the public involves the thinning of over stocked stands to reduce haz ardous fuel loads and protection of rural homesites and commu nities through the Wildland Ur ban Interface program. Some of the trees are used for biom ass, which produces electricity through a cogeneration plant at Warm Springs Forest Products Industries. The HFR and WUI projects are subsidized by fed eral funding and that makes them economically viable to some degree. There are costs for road maintenance, cultural surveys, monitoring and other activities that must be considered when tabulating the economics of bio mass removal, but there are also benefits, not the least of which is a healthier forest. (Note: comments regarding wild life aspects o f the sale will he in the next edition o f the paper.) N ext deadline to subm it item s to the Spilyay Tymoo is Friday, Oct. 20. CIS TIRES 915 SOUTH HWY 97, SUITE B 9 Warm Springs for your support! We’ve been serving you for one year, and hope to serve you for many more. Compare Great Prices, Great Service BFG, Pro-Comp, and many more (c COOPER 4 * 1 7 / 5 J - 9 7 1 JL 1 X 1 X M onday-Friday: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. W e a r e p ro u d th a t 90% o f a ll o u r tir e s a r e p ro d u c e d in th e U.S. o f A. Saturday: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. -n jizF.is _• j 732 S W 6th St., a t th e “Y ” in R ed m o n d Desks, Living Room, Dining Room, Tables, Lamps, Recliners, Mattresses, Bedroom, Daybeds, Sleepers, Bunk Beds, Leather, Entertainment Centers, and MORE! FREE D E L IV E R Y to M O S T Central Oregon areas. Open 7 Days a week Badger Butte Salvage Dead trees and living lodge pole larger than eight inches in diameter will be salvaged under a project assessment being de veloped for Badger Butte. The lodgepole on Badger Butte died because bark beetles bored into the trees. The trees were already stressed due to overstocking and competition for light, nutrients and water, which makes them susceptible to infestation. The bark beetle population is low 10-6 Mon.-Sat. 11-5 Sun. H O M E FU R N IS H IN G S - R E D M O N D Locally Owned & Operated since 1980 9 2 3 “4 1 5 5 ^our favorite J-fome rFurm m m s T 'or J im
