Wisconsin state forestry officials said last week they’re moving ahead with a multi-front plan to salvage hundreds of thousands of downed trees across far northwestern Wisconsin that calls for using soldiers to clear debris, relaxing air pollution permits and raising weight limits on the region’s roads for loggers.
The cleanup effort presents multiple challenges, including how to motivate private landowners to clean up their property, how to transport so much wood to mills and how to avoid clogging the timber market with so much wood that prices plunge, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.
The blueprint calls for using the Wisconsin National Guard to clear branches, logs and other debris from roadside right-of-ways to decrease the fire hazard and clear space for snow removal this winter. State officials also plan to talk with federal environmental officials about relaxing air quality standards to allow more pine emissions, allowing manufacturers to use more of the softwood. Other parts of the plan call for expediting water permits for loggers looking to build bridges and fords to reach fallen timber faster, evaluating areas that could serve as holding areas for cleared timber and using the state Economic Development Corporation’s contacts to explore selling some of the wood in China, which would relieve the pressure the extra timber would place on Wisconsin markets.
The state is racing to help local governments clear the debris and the timber industry capitalize on the fallen trees before they rot or catch fire. Severe storms in July toppled trees over more than 130,000 acres in Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Polk and Washburn counties. The storms left about 2 million cords of wood on the ground, equivalent to a year’s worth of logging.