Original harvesting plan modified to leave more trees
The Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has affirmed its decision that a timber sale on Virginia Ridge and Wolf Creek won’t have a significant impact on the environment.
With that decision, the 671-acre forest-thinning and logging project can proceed. The auction is scheduled for April 23, with logging planned soon after. All merchantable timber must be removed by Nov. 15.
After receiving voluminous comments from people concerned that DNR’s original plans would resemble a clear-cut, the agency revised the sale twice to retain more trees per acre, and to leave them in irregular clumps so that the forest appears more natural.
Specifications for the sale call for leaving 40 trees per acre, about twice as many as in the original proposal from two years ago. The areas to be treated currently have about 150 trees per acre.
Most of the thinning and logging will be in the Wolf Creek and Virginia Ridge areas below Sun Mountain Lodge. There is a small area to be logged near Mazama.
In comments to DNR, people said they were worried that the appearance of the hills after logging would have negative economic effects on the valley’s tourism industry. Others said they were concerned that the original proposal for thinning would actually increase fire risk because removing so many trees would dry out the understory.
DNR said most comments on the latest revisions — from individuals, the Methow Valley Citizens Council, the Colville Tribes, and conservation organizations — stated concerns about the treatment of slash after logging, prescribed fire, and the visual impact of the logging.
In response, DNR said it will treat slash piles by burning or chipping. It will conduct an analysis after logging to determine if prescribed fire is appropriate.
To address aesthetic concerns, DNR plans to leave trees in variable groups, with individual trees and openings, and to feather the density along the sale boundaries. It will leave more trees to mask roads and landings where safe to do so.
All trees greater the 24 inches in diameter will be retained, and those larger than 7 inches in diameter will be considered for retention.
In a letter on behalf of several conservation groups and individuals, attorney Peter Goldman with the Washington Forest Law Center thanked DNR for working collaboratively to modify the sale to address their concerns. But, to ensure that DNR carries out post-harvest treatments to reduce the risk of wildfire, Goldman asked the agency to include the specific conditions as mitigations.
