Forest
Policies Part 1 of 2: The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors has taken an aggressive
stance on the management of our National Forests for forest health, reduced fuel loads and
the creation of more jobs in the woods. Recently, the Board held a workshop to share
information.
Klamath and Shasta Charter Forests:
The Board has approved the “Siskiyou County National Forest Accountability
Project” as policy. This concept proposes the creation of two 50,000 acre “Charter
Forests” – one in the Klamath National Forest and one in the Shasta-Trinity National
Forest. These would be co-managed by the County and the US Forest Service. The purpose of
the Charter Forests would be to implement forest management projects at a pace and scale
that is capable of restoring healthy and fire-resilient forests at a landscape level.
The County would assume a number of functions in developing and
implementing the projects including: (1) Developing and revising long term management
plans for the Charter Forests; (2) Developing and maintaining a forest inventory system;
(3) Planning, obtaining approvals for and overseeing timber sales; (4) Maintaining roads,
stream crossings and drainage; (5) Operating and maintaining public recreation facilities;
(6) Conducting monitoring and reporting activities; and (7) Conducting natural and
cultural resource surveys to protect sensitive resources.
To reduce delays that have been caused by administrative appeals and
litigation on virtually all significant projects in the past, the Charter Forest proposal
recognizes the urgency and overriding environmental and economic considerations at stake,
providing for a special environmental review process incorporating the procedures of the
California Environmental Quality Act, while conducting monitoring and submitting annual
reports to Congress to ensure accountability.
Twenty five percent of the monetary receipts from projects on the
Charter Forests will be returned to County as timber receipts. The remaining monetary
receipts from Charter Forest projects will be deposited in a fund that will support
planning and implementation of future restoration and enhancement projects in the Charter
Forests.
Current preparation and administration of timber sales in California
costs the Forest Service an average of $100 per thousand board feet sold. Siskiyou County
would negotiate a reasonable reallocation to the County of current Klamath and Shasta-Trinity
National Forest funding based on a pro-rata share of the area managed or the timber volume
sold for the Charter Forests in relation to the total National Forest. This annual income
would underwrite Charter Forest management. (The County already has experience in managing
the forests at Lake Siskiyou.)
Recently, the Board requested that County Counsel’s office move
forward in creating federal legislation to create the two Charter Forests as a pilot
project. This legislation would then need to be introduced by our legislators for
consideration by Congress.
As a complimentary project, the Board of Supervisors has contracted with Dr. Nicholas
Dennis to develop a Regional Economic Model based on “IMPLAN.” Dr. Dennis would
collect data from local businesses to ensure accuracy of the model. The model would be
used by the County as a “cooperating agency” in developing National Forests
projects that include a specific purpose and need to provide local economic benefits.
Further detail on these items can be found on the Board of Supervisor’s
agendas for August 9, 2011, March 6, 2012 and April 3, 2012. http://www.co.siskiyou.ca.us/BOS/DOCS/agenda/2012/Questys/PublishedMeetings.htm
At the recent workshop, Bruce Courtright talked about a new
initiative of the National Institute for the Elimination of Catastrophic Wildfire. NIECW
was approached by a group of former Forest Service “subject matter experts”
concerned about the unhealthy state of our National Forests. They felt that the forests were being allowed to
“change from productive forests to fire-prone, insect-infested and disease-wracked
lands of declining value to the public.“ The Institute brought these experts together
with local government officials (including myself and Supervisor Roger Jaegel of Trinity County,)
who had particular concerns about the threat of wildfire to local communities and the
economic impact of the loss of forest-related jobs.
The group felt that the National Forest had gotten off-track from its
organic purpose and direction as given to it by Congress - to manage for sustained yield
on a multiple use basis. Members of the group worked collaboratively on a white paper
entitled “Something of Value: The National Forest System – Congressional Action
is needed for the Revitalization of the National Forest System.” The paper reviews
laws governing management of the National Forest and adverse impacts affecting the Forests
and the Forest Service. It requests Congressional review of these issues and offers
indicators of effectiveness. After issues have been investigated and reviewed, Congress is
requested to enact legislation affirming the mission of the Forest Service and providing
clear direction on the management and restoration of the national Forest System.
Look for more details here: http://www.stopwildfire.org/#!
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