The Payette National Forest expects to offer three salvage timber sales in March in the area burned by the Grays Creek Fire in August and September.
During a presentation in Council on Saturday, salvage sale team specialists talked about how the sale would be managed to the benefit of the forest.
The team is studying the possibility of timber salvage in the 24,900-acre burn, located partly on national forest between Council and Donnelly.
Lightning sparked the blaze Aug. 30 and it burned 12 days until crews fully contained its spread. The fire moved within four miles of the top of Tamarack Resort.
Payette Supervisor Suzanne Rainville is expected to approve the sales in March then put them out to bid.
Named Grays Creek, Sugarloaf and Middle Fork, the sales are expected to harvest about 3 million board feet of timber. Logging methods to be used for the harvest include helicopter, tractor and jammer, and skyline.
In addition to salvage, work would consist of culvert replacement, felling snags along trails and planting new trees.
The Forest Service intends to work cooperatively with Adams County on road work, Council District Ranger Mary Farnsworth said.
These timber sales are expected to be handled similarly to the salvage sales offered after a tornado ripped down 5,000 acres of timber northwest of Council in July 2006.
Swift action sought
Action is expected to be swift to ensure the cutting of merchantable timber. But the Grays Creek sales will be different because they will be done under normally environmental protection rules and not under the same legislation that helped expedite the tornado salvage, which took three months to implement
The tornado salvage was done under auspices of the Healthy Forest Restoration Act, which allowed a short cut to the environmental review for the sake of fuel reduction.
"Unfortunately, with a fire salvage there are no such authorities available to us," said Bill Gamble project leader for the timber sales.
Fire had already taken a toll on the forest, so the healthy forests act would not be applicable, Farnsworth said.
With Grays Creek, the most timber that could be been cut without an environmental assessment is about 250 acres, Gamble said.
Of the total acreage burned about 2,500 is salvageable, said Jeff Canfield, a silviculturalist on the forest's interdisciplinary team.
The fire burned on private property as well as public land. About 41 percent of the burn is on private land including stands owned by Potlach. which has already begun logging on its property.
Farnsworth said the Forest Service would coordinate logging with landowners wanting salvage on their property.
Grays Creek is a priority project for the Payette forest. Farnsworth said.
Trees need to come down since bark beetle infections are highly likely in stressed trees that are still alive. Gamble said.
Project planning will take into consideration wildlife, watershed protection. and erosion control, experts said.
Of concern are steep slopes, disturbance of soil where ground cover was destroyed. and rebuilding habitat for fish. protected species and big game.
Intensity of the fire varied across the terrain, which was in part open grassland as well as forest. In some areas, the soil is shielded from erosion by fallen needles. and in places trees still shade streams.
Buffer zone planned
The area is home to three endangered species: the Canadian lynx, the gray wolf and the northern Idaho ground squirrel.
About four snags per acre likely could be left for wildlife birds like the white-headed and pileated woodpeckers, wildlife biologist Jon Almack said.
A study will determine how much material left behind would be optimal for all wildlife, including elk and deer.
Trade-offs would be built into plans to offset sedimentation from logging activities, including road improvement.
Buffer zones extending 240 away from stream banks on average and distances could vary depending on other factors such as slope of ground. An unspecified amount of road may be obliterated to reduce future sedimentation.
All matters of planning are still up for discussion and ideas presented are still conceptual, Farnsworth said. The Forest Service will be collecting public opinion as part of environmental study.
