After decades of declining timber harvests and forest restoration projects, the Colville National Forest has turned a corner and is dramatically increasing both. According to recent forest management estimates, the forest is poised to be the No. 1 forest products producer in the Pacific Northwest, an area containing 17 National Forests in Oregon and Washington.
The forest is expected to yield 120 million board feet of forest products in 2018, compared to 70 million board feet in 2017, said Colville forest supervisor Rodney Smoldon. Compare that to the two years before 2017, when the forest’s output didn’t reach 50 million board feet; or since the late 1990’s, when it struggled to offer 40 million board feet per year. Those advances haven’t come overnight, and have spanned several White House administrations and leadership changes in Congress.
Smoldon said he credits the advances to a mixture of local collaboration and use of innovative management tools Congress has provided, including those in the 2014 Farm Bill. Those resources were motivated, in part, by hopes of expanding forest restoration work necessary to reduce the risk of wildfire in northeast Washington. “We try everything that comes our way,” said Smolden, pointing to several programs that have allowed his small staff to do more.
About 75 percent of their sales estimates will be timber for sawmills. This increase is significant; if the logs from the increase in 2018 were made into framing lumber it would provide for more than 4,000 average-sized homes. Also included in the sales are tons of chips for producing paper, electric power and other products. This adds significant fuel to the regional economy.
This dramatic increase in scope and pace of work gets mixed reactions, said Franklin Pemberton, forest spokesperson. “Some people will be angry about the increased timber harvest and ignore the amount of restoration work it allows,” Pemberton said. Almost all the harvest will be tied to some sort of forest health improvement program, like thinning and removal of fire-killed trees. Some will be traded directly for restoration work through innovative new programs.
From The Spokesman-Review: https://www-spokesman-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/feb/03/colville-national-forest-poised-to-set-records-as-/?amp-content=amp