Middle East Fork: More harm than good?

The U.S. Forest Service might be doing more harm than good with the Middle East Fork Hazardous Fuel Reduction Project on the Bitterroot National Forest, say three researchers from the University of Montana.

The trio, along with Matthew Koehler of the Native Forest Network and Jeff Juel of the Ecology Center, met with the Missoulian last week to talk about their concerns for the controversial project on the southern end of the Bitterroot.

All supported Alternative 3, which was developed by the environmental community. It would treat about 600 acres of national forest lands within 400 meters of private structures. The proposal also called for treating another 1,000 acres to protect "legacy" trees.

The Forest Service's alternative proposed to treat about 6,500 acres in the 25,000-acre area considered under the proposal. Commercial logging of mostly dead trees would occur on about 3,800 acres.

Koehler said Alternative 3 would reduce fuels, protect the community and provide jobs in the Sula area.

"We can't understand why the Forest Service is so insistent on holding the work needed for fire protection around the community hostage in order to do industrial logging outside of the urban interface," Koehler said.

Most communities in western Montana would be happy to see the environmental community, the Forest Service and local residents come together to get this kind of work completed, he said.

Koehler called the Bitterroot National Forest "absolutely negligent" in its efforts for public discourse.

"They've been doing a lot of field tours for people who support the project," he said. "They've not held one tour open to the public on the project."

"This project is sort of a poster child for the problems that we've found on that forest," said Koehler.

Koehler was accompanied by UM professor of forest entomology and pathology Diana Six, forest fire science professor Ron Wakimoto and Pacific Rivers Council senior staff scientist Chris Frissell.

All three expressed concerns about the proposed project meeting objectives set by the Forest Service.

For instance, Six said the project won't likely slow the spread of Douglas fir bark beetles.

Treating an area that small will not have much impact with such a widespread epidemic occurring now in many parts of western Montana.

"It's a touchy issue," she said. "The public sees a lot of dead trees and they want it to be managed right now, when there's not really a whole lot that can be done about it."

Over the short term, thinning Douglas fir stands may actually have the opposite result.

For a period of a year or two after thinning, Douglas fir trees may be more susceptible to beetle attacks until they acclimate to their new surroundings, she said.

Thinning is probably more helpful in stands that have yet to be infected by beetles, Six said.

Unlike the mountain pine beetle, the Douglas fir bark beetles isn't normally a very efficient tree killer. Epidemics normally don't last more than two or three years.

This current infestation is the result of a number of different conditions coming together, including the fires of 2000, drought and stands that are heavily stocked, she said.

Once the drought ends, the Douglas fir beetles will probably drop down to more normal levels, said Six.

Six also worries about the potential for genetic contamination that may occur when the Forest Service replants trees on some of the sites.

Trees are genetically adapted to different sites, she said. Instead of collecting seeds from each of the sites, the Forest Service introduces trees from another area, which may not be able to adapt to those site-specific conditions, she said.

"They should be replanting using seed stock from those specific sites," Six said.

"Wakimoto said his concerns centered on the consistent approach the agency took on treating all the stands within the project area.

The ponderosa pine stands in the lower elevations might benefit more from the approach than the higher-elevation mixed fire regime stands with Douglas-fir, he said.

Some recent studies on fires in similar mixed fire regimes found that thinned stands of trees burned hotter and had higher rates of mortality than adjacent stands that hadn't been thinned, he said.

"Only recently, following some large fires, have we been able to look after the fact and see what really works and what really doesn't," he said.

In some cases, reintroducing fire may be the best way to readjust stocking levels and recreate a more natural mosaic of different age classes in the higher-elevation forests, he said.

"Fire reduces stocking, although maybe not as uniformly as people do with chainsaws," he said.

Frissell said his concerns centered on the impacts to streams and water quality that will come from hauling logs out on an inadequate road system.

The state of that road network already impacts native fish populations in the area, he said. Adding traffic there will only make the situation worse.