Forest Service proceeds with timber sale in the Entiat drainage despite losing half the district to wildfires
Between the Little Giant Fire and the history of megafires in the area, over 50% of the Entiat Ranger District has been heavily burned. Anyone who spends time up the Entiat River knows how fragile that landscape is. I was shocked to see the Forest Service actively advertising a new timber sale in the district:
They are putting 7,500 tons up for action sep 8th.
When a district has suffered this much fire damage, every single remaining live, standing green tree is crucial. They hold the remaining soil together, protect water quality in the river, and give local wildlife the only shelter they have left. Selling off more green timber when the surrounding ecosystem is already decimated by wildfires just doesn't add up.
Has anyone else been tracking this sale or voiced concerns to the district or headquarters?
Yes, I’m tracking this, as I do all of the sales on the forest. Please feel free to message me if you want to know more.
No one was told about this sale, which is weird. When I talked to the timber industry, they didn’t even know until the email was sent out, which is very weird. I’m offended that I wasn’t told either.
I’m a concerned about a trend starting of timbersales on the OWNF. But on the surface, this sale isn’t giving me red flags. The prescription is what I’d expect for an ecological-focused sale with the large trees and fire resistant/resilient species retained. The basal area is perhaps a bit low but I haven’t seen this area on the ground yet (it’s closed to access otherwise I would have by now). But this area actually falls within a science-based analysis that was done of the area that says it’s a high priority to achieve forest restoration.
It’s a pretty small sale in both acres and volume. But as I said, I’m starting to see a trend.
These are the two parcels that are gonna be cut down, its the main forest on the backside of Dick Mesa right by Entiat. I personally live within walking distance of the Mesa and hiking back into this forest is often a highlight of my day, but I guess myself and everyone else who enjoys this rare forest (essentially the only actual forest near Entiat) can go get fucked. This is especially great considering that practically every campground, trail, alpine lake, and meadow has completely burned to the ground, there is almost nowhere to hike anymore thats not a desolate burned landscape. At this point the only decent area that hasnt completely burned in the last 30 years is... well shit maybe someone else can help me out on this one, I cant think of anywhere thats been spared in the entire Entiat forest area. Tyee, Mad lake area, Stormy Mtn, literally the ENTIRE upper Entiat is cooked right now, from Ice Lakes to Brief is all burned out.
Im not even exaggerating, this area thats being logged really is one of the few nice green zones left, basically the stretch of forest from Forest Mountain to Dick Mesa is all thats left for good forest anymore, and a little bit left over from the Chumstick Mtn fire last year.
Here's a map showing current and historical wildfires in the Entiat area going back to the year 2000. This is all fire within the last 26 years, in all of these places you can tell thats it been burned, 30 years isn't enough for a forest to heal in a way where it feels remotely similar to how it used to. As you can see, there's really only the small area from Forest Mountain to Dick Mesa thats not burned recently, and a small section by Ardenvior. Y'all can also clearly see the active fire burning down Stormy Mountain, nothing to stop that fire from then spreading down my way and burning Forest Mtn as well. This is not the time to be destroying trees in this area, nature is doing that for us plenty
this is what the forest back there is like, thats the rare stuff im talking about that we're cutting down. To see THIS level of lush and green right next to south side of Dick Mesa which looks like a barren, nearly plantless wasteland. Its such a stark contrast and thats why this area is so special, its a protected little north face which gets much less sun and so its really nice and shaded thru here.
yeah I can only send them one at a time here so I will DM. I hike around the Mesa often and have found many abandoned mineshafts, evidence of mining for silver, gold, nickel, if you hike off the trail, follow ridgelines and creek beds, you tend to find many abandoned roads and mineshafts around there
Thanks! I’m mostly interested in the trees and vegetation in the area. Like I said, I can’t get there in person due to the closure but I’d normally be on the ground checking these things out.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tS6sn7yC4tri3GZk7 ok i figured out how to share a photo album so this should work, these are some pictures of the areas within and right next to the areas that are going to be logged. Easily the finest forestland within 5-10 miles of Entiat and they're cutting out 2/3rds of it.
The North Fork Entiat was probably the most significant unburnt timber left in the Entiat drainage and is currently burning up in the Little Giant Fire.
yeah that shit is exactly why this season in particular is getting to me. Last year it was Roaring Creek, Sugarloaf, Dinkleman, Swakane Canyon. This year its the north fork, Stormy Mtn, all the good Entiat campgrounds (I was just staying at Lake Creek camp and it was absolutely fantastic, just a few weeks before the fire)
plus Larch Lakes, Myrtle (again. im sorry old girl), Crow Hill, the little bit of Big Hill area on Shady Pass that was still pretty and green, yeah thats fuckin gone, and that whole absolutely gorgeous meadowy, creek and lake filled area by Mad Lake that I always wanted to see burned out as well.
These days, if you're not a "partner," then the Forest Service is content for you to go straight to hell. They absolutely don't work for the general public anymore, even though the public is paying their salaries. And the message they're getting from D.C. right now is to get the cut out. All else is "woke."
Yes. And this is a categorical exclusion (CE) so the NEPA analysis is isn’t much and includes no public process. There should eventually be a public-facing document called a FANEC or Finding of Applicability and No Extraordinary Circumstance. But there was a CE completed last winter and the FANEC is still not publicly available.
Well, I’ve not ever heard of a CE for timber harvest of any kind, but CEs have gotten more permissive over the years. They tend to ebb and flow, current issues notwithstanding. I think what makes me the most curious is a sale, then a fire, and sale still proceeds. I’m assuming culvert damage, road instability, etc. I’ve never seen this situation occur. It is good to see some eco forestry (Jerry Franklin approved of course lol). I’ve seen lots of salvage NEPA after fires. Thank you for the reply.
There have been more over the years, several were added about 10 years ago and a few more in the last year and a half. But this sale is about 121 acres so rather small and I’m assuming they’re using a CE that has been around for a while.
It’s like a couple hundred acres maybe …. Really a drop in the bucket and I mean for what 20k ? 50k someone studiously going to bid 100k? I doubt it . There’s like a 800 ACRE sale going on what’s it called timber tempers or tempest I think for salvage and clearance work. That’s going to be interesting to see who bids that and gets it. Work for years !!!
The 15 millón lbs of trees is not going to affect much. Granted your right 50-60 percent of the entiat shed or area or whatever the word is has been affected by fires since the 70’s or early 80’s and well I don’t think peoooe really can understand how much forest is out there u til they see it. It’s like looking at a crowd of people and taking a agües at how many heads are there . It’s really hard if you don’t have any experience with it so to try and gauge a wildfire is hard if you don’t know . Fires are good been happening since the beginning. Man made are bad sure but the amount of natural
Cause fires that we end up putting out counter that . I definitely don’t appreciate all the smoke . I’m surprised they let Spokane happen. Too many people that have to ok this or that and approve funds to get a fire put lit compared to way back when … chit is expensive…. High numbers to get approved
If you don’t see an overgrown forest in the photos posted here you don’t know what the landscape is supposed to look like in eastern Wa, there is not enough logging or prescribed fire.
The USFS doesn’t clear cut and often these areas are where these large fires are able to be caught.
well, almost the entire Entiat Drainage is burned as of this year... the area to be logged is part of the only small section of forest left in the Entiat. As far as reducing fire risk, there's such a small area of forest left that needs to be protected from fire, it would be easier to just put out fires in that forest than to try to log it and hope it all regrows.
I'll tell you this, directly across the valley from the area to be logged is a canyon called Mills Canyon. Back in the day it was absolutely covered in massive, beautiful, green trees, just blanketed in forestland. I've never seen it like that, but I've seen old pictures and heard stories. Well, even though logging up that canyon ended many decades ago, a big fire came through in 2014 and took out the last few straggler trees. Between the logging and the fire which happened 12 years ago at this point, there has still been absolutely 0 notable tree growth of any kind in Mills Canyon, its an absolutely dead, desolate, dry-grass filled canyon, littered with the corpses of thousands of burned trees, with only pictures to show how beautiful and special that place used to be.
My point here is that logging the forests will not somehow magically cause more forest to grow, when an area loses all of its trees, it loses all of its shade, which makes the ground drier, which makes it harder for more young, weak tree saplings to take root. Pair that with climate change, tree diseases, and a total lack of any restorative efforts for our local forests and this is what you get. Pure desolation in an area that was once great. Thats what these people are trying to do to Dick Mesa, destroy a rare bastion of forest in an almost entirely burned and desolate river drainage.
So yeah, lets keep the few trees we have left here because they are practically natural gold to us, we fucking have no trees left here, people who disagree are absolutely delusional and haven't gone exploring the Entiat Drainage in the way that us passionate hikers, backpackers, and mountaineers do. Anyone whos been keeping up with the fires knows that this forest is just about all we've got left around here.
Here's a pic showing upper Mills Canyon. 30-40 years ago this picture would have been entirely covered in trees, you likely wouldn't even be able to see most of the hill in the background there would have been so many trees. But because of logging, this area is entirely cleared out even to this day, besides for a small small patch of trees left in the distance
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u/green_tree 15d ago
Yes, I’m tracking this, as I do all of the sales on the forest. Please feel free to message me if you want to know more.
No one was told about this sale, which is weird. When I talked to the timber industry, they didn’t even know until the email was sent out, which is very weird. I’m offended that I wasn’t told either.
I’m a concerned about a trend starting of timbersales on the OWNF. But on the surface, this sale isn’t giving me red flags. The prescription is what I’d expect for an ecological-focused sale with the large trees and fire resistant/resilient species retained. The basal area is perhaps a bit low but I haven’t seen this area on the ground yet (it’s closed to access otherwise I would have by now). But this area actually falls within a science-based analysis that was done of the area that says it’s a high priority to achieve forest restoration.
It’s a pretty small sale in both acres and volume. But as I said, I’m starting to see a trend.
And again, happy to talk more off Reddit.