Chief forester issues plan to reduce wildfires

By Christine Souza

The U.S. Forest Service released its revised management plan for 11 national forests in the Sierra Nevada, indicating that the changes will protect old-growth forests, habitat and communities from catastrophic wildfires.

"The trend is clear. If we do not actively manage our forests to reduce fuels, improve their health and return them to natural conditions, we can expect more catastrophic wildfires and continuing threats to communities, lives and homes," said Pacific Southwest Regional Forester Jack Blackwell. "We can also expect to see more damage to old forests, wildlife habitat, soils, water quality."

At a press conference in Sacramento last Thursday, Blackwell announced amendments to the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment (Framework), as well as the promotion of the "Forests for the Future" campaign.

The new plan, a revision of the original Sierra Nevada Framework approved in 2001, improves upon the Forest Service's ability to reduce the high risk of fire on 11.5 million acres of land in California and part of Nevada. Blackwell said that the overly restrictive rules in the 2001 Sierra Nevada Framework prevented local forest managers from effectively reducing fire danger.

"We must make our forests fire safe. Large, old trees will not be cut. They're not the problem," Blackwell said. "We need big trees for wildlife habitat and other values. Relatively few trees between 20 and 30 inches in diameter will be thinned. The emphasis will be on unnaturally dense stands of smaller trees and brush. We've got to remove some of this dense growth in strategic sites."

Under the new rules, Forest Service biologists, foresters and other specialists will work closely to determine what types and sizes of trees will be removed, and which will remain standing, based on specific requirements of each local forest. Requirements to protect large trees on any given site mean that most trees greater than 25 inches in diameter will be left standing. All trees 30 inches and larger are protected.

"Some may have the impression that we are cutting a large percentage of the forest, but that is not the case," Blackwell said. "There are 90 million trees in this diameter class. We estimate that we need to thin about 180,000 trees-one-fifth of 1 percent. That is all we're talking about, yet there is a mistaken impression that it is something far greater."

Paired with the new Sierra Nevada Framework plan, the "Forests for the Future" campaign is designed to increase public awareness of the danger to forests, wildlife habitat and communities from devastating wildfires. Through communication materials, the Forest Service will inform people of actions being taken to reduce fire risks. In addition, the Forest Service will encourage people to work with the federal agency and others in their local communities on fuel reduction projects.

"This is an important first step. It still requires public involvement. It still requires our members' involvement to make sure, as the new changes are implemented, that they are implemented in a way that works for rural communities, that works for people in agriculture, ranching and in forestry," said Bruce Blodgett, California Farm Bureau Federation director of public lands policy. "It is encouraging that the Forest Service is starting to turn this around and use a science-based approach to bring management back to our national forests in the Sierra range."

The Forest Service says the action campaign and the final Framework plan will reduce the number of acres burned by severe wildfires by more than 30 percent within the next 50 years. These actions are projected to double the acres of large old-growth trees over the next 50 years. Spotted owl nesting habitat is also projected to nearly double over the next 50 years. Around forest communities, 700,000 acres will be thinned within 20 years, giving firefighters a fighting chance at protecting them from severe wildfires.

"We are encouraged that this decision does indeed change some of the obviously flawed portions of the original decision. We believe this is the first step in the right direction," said Dave Bischel, California Forestry Association president. "Overstocked forests are growing between 1.5 to 3 percent more wood per year and will add between 15 to 30 percent more to the overstocked conditions within the next decade."

The revised Sierra Nevada Framework will allow about 330 million board-feet of timber to be removed each year for the first decade. This is about three times the amount planned under the initial Framework, and is only half the amount offered annually from 1986 to 1992. Previous thinnings, Blackwell said, were too light to be effective.

This year, the Forest Service was appropriated with about $30 million to fund the Sierra Nevada Framework plan that includes planning, projects and litigation. The service needs an additional $20 million to make up the total $50 million cost to reduce dangerous fuels on 115,000 acres. Lumber removed from the forest will help finance the costs of this work, as well as support the state's struggling timber business. One 20-inch tree is valued at $400.

"In any one year, we could spend $100 million just suppressing forest fires in California. Not the major fires like the horrible ones we experienced in Southern California last year, but some of the project fires here in the Sierra run about $1 million a day, so it is really important that we get on with this and not waste those dollars in suppression when we could be spending them on trying to address the problem," Blackwell said. "We cannot afford to lose one more sawmill in California. We have got to keep that industry healthy and working, not only for the jobs that it provides and the stability of communities, but they are the source of where this material goes."

In addition, grazing permit holders will be affected both positively and negatively by the new forest management plan. The Sierra Nevada Framework reduces impacts on grazing permit holders and rural communities by giving local managers more flexibility to develop site-specific practices to balance wildlife protection with these uses. California Cattlemen's Association Executive Vice President Ben Higgins agrees with other industry representatives that this plan is a start.

"The plan is a step in the right direction, but we certainly think that the Forest Service could have done more to minimize hardship on grazing permitees," Higgins said. "Even with the changes we are still talking about a degree of loss. There are going to be cuts of permitted grazing in the Sierra."

As many as 400 ranchers are utilizing U.S. Forest Service grazing permits in the 11 national forests covered by the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment, Higgins said.

Officials indicate that the new management plan will become effective 30 days after the announcement is published in the Federal Register, scheduled to appear Friday.