In addition to the excellent tour of
fuel reduction work on Richard Hartshorn’s place in Horse Creek, I recently went out
on a tour of various projects in the Hayfork area of Trinity County. (See my website for Hartshorn
pictures http://www.sisqtel.net/~armstrng/index.html
)
The two-day
Hayfork tour was arranged as a Klamath Province Advisory Committee (PAC) as a field trip.
The first day, we visited the “Happy Farmer” thinning project. This 34 acre
project was designed to reduce forest fuels, as well as to research the quality of the
small diameter tree thinnings to determine the feasibility of using the wood for higher
value products. The tree species thinned were mostly Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine, with
a small percentage of Sugar pine and White fir.
The Project
did have a component of regular saw logs (74.37 MBF.) In addition, 10,549 post/pole sized
trees from eight to 25 feet in length were taken from thinnings – 9.4% of which did
not meet industry standards. About 95% of the posts/poles were sold to wholesale
customers. The Project also took 35.71 MBF of small diameter logs that were processed
through a portable saw mill called an “Economizer.”
The bottom
line, is that the cost of the thinning from lay-out through hauling was $1,614/acre. The
net revenue from the material after sorting, processing and merchandizing was $706/acre.
This means that the net cost of thinning to the American taxpayer would be reduced to
$614/acre.
Unlike the
old pre-1990s timber programs, this is not a profit-making venture for the American
public. It is a program intended to reduce the expense of managing the Forests on an
ecosystem basis. Congress does not appear to have grasped that the Forests cannot be left
unmanaged. There are now approximately 39 million acres of public land requiring some kind
of fuels reduction treatment. “Economy of scale” and value-added product
development for small diameter trees can help to offset the costs, while contributing
social and economic benefits to Forest communities.
The “Little
Farmer” fuel reduction and small diameter project compared the costs of the
cable-based “yarder” method ($458/MBF) with the ground-based “skidder”
method of harvest ($203/MBF.) The Hayfork Watershed Research and Training Center (WRTC)
has purchased a small one man skidder with Kevlar tracks called a “Positrack.”
It can use various “heads,” including a “masticator” that chews up
material and a shearer that cuts small tree trunks. They also have designed and built a
high tech mini-yarder that can pull small diameter trees up steeper slopes. (Typically,
tracked skidders cannot be effectively used on slopes exceeding 35%.)
Some of the
thinnings from this project were milled into two inch dimension material that was dried
and re-sawn and molded into ¾ inch flooring. Some was manufactured into V groove
paneling. Pine was sent to Wisconsin California Forest Products for drying and surfacing
to see how much material of different grade was typically available. There was also a
study on the suitability for using the pine for finger- jointed molding.
The
final day of the field trip, the group visited the Post Mountain Forest Roads Fuel
Management Zones Project. Post Mountain is a 3,000 acre subdivision composed of 1,000 lots
and surrounded by heavy forest. The Trinity County Fire Safe Council identified fuel
reduction in this area as a high priority. The strategy is to create fuel management zones
(FMZ) 200 feet on each side of Forest Service, county and private roads surrounding the
subdivision.
In the FMZ,
trees will be thinned to an average distance of 20-25 feet, leaving the most vigorous or
dominant trees. Merchantable timber, small diameter material and firewood will be
separated for use. Lower tree limbs will be pruned to a height of 8-10 feet above the
ground to reduce ladder fuels. Snags within 100 feet of the road will be felled. All other
brush taller than one foot in height will be machine masticated, if possible. Otherwise,
brush and cuttings will be machine piled for burning or hand piled if the slope is greater
than 35%. In some areas, an underburning treatment will follow.
The Hayfork
WRTC encourages local collaborative groups experimenting with the harvest, raw processing
and value-added manufacturing of small diameter material. Lynn Jungwirth has indicated
that she would welcome small groups from our communities who would like to visit and tour
their operation. Possible follow-up could include bringing over their specialized small
equipment for a demonstration project or workshop on our forests.
http://www.thewatershedcenter.org/
On a related
note, Assemblyman Doug La Malfa is sponsoring AB 2420 that would allow an exemption from a
Timber Harvest Plan under the Forest Practices Act for fuel reduction projects under 300
acres. The bill has passed the Assembly and is now in the California Senate.
The Etna
Cemetery District has an open position on its Board of Directors due to the resignation of
Dr. Coatney. If you are interested in serving, please contact at the County Clerk’s office at 842-8084 as soon as
possible. The Board of Supervisors can appoint to fill the vacancy no later than June 15.
Otherwise, the District will have to go to the expense of an election. |
