March 28, 2016

Olympic forest group cites progress in timber project

SHELTON — Progress is being made to increase tree harvest levels in Olympic National Forest in a sustainable fashion. That was the consensus of timber industry representatives and environmental activists Thursday night during a meeting of the Olympic Peninsula Forest Collaborative at Mason County Public Utility District 3’s Skookum Room in Shelton.

U.S. Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Gig Harbor, led the latest of a series of public meetings with timber, conservation and area leaders on the collaborative committee. 

“I want to thank the members of the Olympic Peninsula Forest Collaborative for putting in a whole lot of time and energy to move the needle forward with regard to how we handle our resources on the Olympic Peninsula,” Kilmer said. “I have often said that this is a model that we could use in Congress.”

Kilmer joined regional leaders from the National Forest Service, local governments, the local timber industry and environmental advocacy groups in Port Angeles last May to launch the forest collaborative. 

The collaborative focuses on increasing habitat restoration thinning and aquatic restoration projects under the Northwest Forest Plan for Olympic National Forest that will create economic opportunities on the Peninsula. 

The meeting at Mason County Public Utility District 3’s conference room drew about 15 and little public comment was heard other than discussion about why there was such a meager turnout. About 70 attended a collaborative meeting earlier in the week in Forks.

The collaborative stakeholders in Shelton were Matt Comisky, American Forest Resource Council; Jon Owen, Pew Charitable Trusts; Derek Churchill, Stewardship Forestry Consulting; David Marshall, Sierra Pacific Industries; Knox Marshall, Murphy Company of Elma; Toby Thaler, Olympic Forest Coalition; and Paul Biakowsky, Interfor.

Churchill said the collaborative’s pilot thinning project — 70 acres near Lake Crescent and the Sol Duc River — was moving forward faster and with the idea of trying new things.

The project must be in compliance with both the Olympic National Forest Plan and the Northwest Forest Plan, Comisky said. The volume produced from the project will be in addition to the Forest Service budgeted timber sale outputs for the year.

“Basically, we are learning as we go,” Comisky said.

The agreement builds on the successful partnership between the collaborative and the Olympic National Forest, which so far has accelerated a timber sale in Grays Harbor County last year and is adding capacity to the agency’s annual work plan, Kilmer said.

Kilmer joined regional leaders from the National Forest Service, local governments, the local timber industry and environmental advocacy groups in Port Angeles last May to launch the Olympic Peninsula Forest Collaborative.

The collaborative works together and with federal officials to address issues that stand in the way of achieving the stated goals. The purpose is to show the private and public sector can work together and create a more environmentally sound forest, provide for increased, sustainable timber harvests on the Olympic National Forest, and provide economic benefits to timber communities on the Peninsula, collaborative officials stated.

The collaborative’s goals are:

  • Increasing the amount of acres treated and total harvest volume produced in forest restoration projects under the Northwest Forest Plan and increasing the number and footprint of aquatic and other non-thinning related restoration projects.
  • Creating a framework of agreement on the type and locations of forest restoration treatments that benefit the ecosystem and provide for increased harvest levels under the Northwest Forest Plan.
  • Improving treatment effectiveness and working to reduce the time and cost required to plan and prepare projects through increased efficiencies for the Forest Service.
  • Creating a framework of agreement around innovative forest practices, treatments and techniques that integrate ecological, social, and economic goals, and exploring whether the Adaptive Management Area established under the Northwest Forest Plan provides an opportunity to test these alternative approaches.
  • Collaborating on specific projects, as needed, to create an environment that reduces conflict and seeks to achieve a common vision about the future of the Olympic National Forest. 
  • Creating a forum for addressing any problems that stand in the way of accomplishing our stated goals with the active involvement of federal elected and agency officials.

Source: Fiber One News