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Summer 2009 Fall 2009 Spring 2010

Forest Service Prescribed Burn

Burn Map 2009

(November, 2009) The Forest Service recently completed prescribed burns in several of the units in the Heritage Demo Project in Camp Sherman. The Heritage Demo Project is a joint Friends and Forest Service effort to provide examples of the various types of thinning and treatment options that can be applied to reduce the impact of insect, disease and fire in untreated forests. Prescribed burns were last done here in 2002.

A visit to the site will allow you to compare the various treatments - especially the use of prescribed burning vs. mowing to reduce the underbrush.

 

Prescribed Burn

Prescribed burn in the larch restoration plot (1a)

If you did not get a chance to see the segment on thinning practices in the Metolius Basin on a recent edition of Oregon Field Guide you can do so on the web. Former Friends president, Gregory McClaren, is featured as part of a discussion regarding the collaboration among the Forest Service, environmental groups, and timber and biofuels business interests that has characterized the work done in the basin over the last several years.

The visual affect of the piece contrasting fuel loaded stands of ponderosa forest where fire has been suppressed for decades, the fires that we have experienced during the last decade, and newly thinned forest is dramatic. We benefit from not only a more fire safe environment, but from a healthier forest and wildlife habitat as well. The loads of chips and small diameter logs leaving the area for mills as far away as Toledo on the coast and Prairie City in eastern Oregon testify to the economic value of the thinning project.

The Metolus Protection Act of 2009 is Law
(July, 2009) Wednesday morning, July 15, Oregon's Governor Ted Kulongoski signed the Metolius Protection Act of 2009 before an enthusiastic crowd of about one hundred on the bridge at the state managed Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery. The legislation prohibits destination resort development and provides a management plan for the region. Key features include:

Governor Kulongoski signs the Metolius Protection Act of 2009 with Senators Ginny Burdick and Betsy Johnson looking on
Click for event slide show

• No destination resorts or golf courses in the region.

• The boundary of the region protected extends beyond the Metolius watershed to within a few miles of Sisters on the south and southwest recognizing the potential impact of drawing large amounts of water from the ground water that feeds the river.

• Any new development in the region will not have a negative impact on the river or its springs and tributaries, on wildlife, or on fish.

• The legislation gives the responsibility to review and approve proposed amendments to the plan to the Jefferson County Board of Commissioners and the governing council of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.

• The Ponderosa Land & Cattle Company will have the right to develop 100 residential units and 20 overnight accommodations on their property on Green Ridge including a restaurant and equestrian facilities.

In his introductory remarks the governor outlined the history of efforts to protect the Metolius dating back to the 1970s when Oregon's first land use bill was approved and culminating with the events of the recently concluded 2009 legislative session. He introduced leaders in the process to enact the bill including Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development Director, Richard Whitman, Senators Peter Courtney, Ginny Burdick, and Betsy Johnson, and the principal proponent of the bill, Representative Brian Clem.

Thanks goes to these individuals and to the hundreds, if not thousands, of Oregonians whose heartfelt advocacy for the Metolius won the day.

Metolius Stewardship - Forest Restoration & Wildfire Risk Reduction Progress
(February, 2009) Thinning in the basin is ongoing this winter - with a twist. Reduced timber prices have meant that Melcher Brothers of Lebanon have had to find a new market for some of the smaller logs recently cut as part of the "Head" project near the headwaters of the Metolius. 1,000 + cords of small logs have been cut and sold for firewood along with the larger logs destined for area mills.

This project is a local example of the much broader Healthy Forest Initiative undertaken by the Forest Service nationally beginning in 2002 and resulting in over 2,000,000 acres of fuels reduction work.

Thinned logs

Low pressure tires reduce impact

Once overcrowded trees - now firewood

(March, 2009) The Metolius Forest Restoration Project is moving forward with funds from the 2009 Stimulus Bill. Before and after Forest Service photos show thinning and mechanized mowing along Forest Road 1120.

Metolius Stream Restoration

(February, 2009)

Near Riverside Campground ~1925

Click to enlarge
Hikers between the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery and Bridge 99 are beginning to notice the impact of the Forest Service's Metolius River Wood Restoration Project. The purpose of the project is to restore fish habitat in the Metolius in anticipation of the return of chinook salmon to the river. Specifically, the project seeks to:

• Create approximately 30% additional pool habitat
• Increase the quality of off-channel habitat area
• Increase slow water rearing habitat for juvenile trout and salmon
• Improve hiding cover for fish in slow water

Placement of logs began last fall and will continue into 2010. The ponderosa logs create pools and cover for resting and spawning fish in habitat that mimics the natural fall of trees into the river as suggested by the 1925 Forest Service photo of the Metolius above. Logs will be placed in approximately 173 sites along a 9.8 mile stretch of the river from Riverside Campground to Bridge 99, The section of the river below Bridge 99 to Candle Creek was originally proposed as part of the project, but concerns about boater safety prompted a change in the original plan. A detailed description of the original proposals in the November, 2006 Forest Service Newsletter from the Sisters Ranger District is available for your study as is a copy of he Environmental Analysis of the project.

Below Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery ~ 2009
 

Wizard Fire

Prescribed Burn - Wizard Unit #61
US Forest Service photo
(December, 2008) The Forest Service has released its report on the recent Wizard Fire, the prescribed burn that escaped in late September burning approximately 1840 acres on Green Ridge just north and east of the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery.

While Friends continues to support use of fire for purposes of fuels reduction and forest health the report sounds a clear cautionary note regarding follow-up to any burn:

The Review Team found that the ignition phases of the prescribed fire were conducted successfully, but the prescribed fire escaped sometime between the night of September 24 and 12:25 September 25, 2008 during the patrol phase. The principle causal factor of the escape stemmed from a lack of patrolling of the unit the evening or next morning following ignition. No agency policy was violated, however the prescribed burn organization failed to implement required operational procedures.

A complete copy of the Metolius Research Natural Area, Unit 61, Escaped Prescribed Fire Review is available for you to read.