Upcoming timber sales could impact local citizens

Hundreds of logging trucks coming down Whiterock possible

By Mark Reaman

A couple of upcoming logging projects in the area could significantly impact backcountry users and even people in the town of Crested Butte.

A timber sale being planned for the Ohio Pass area near Kebler Pass could result in hundreds of logging trucks coming through town to access Highway 135. The Town Council will invite Forest Service representatives to a council meeting to discuss the sale and its impacts. In the meantime, a significant timbering project near Taylor Park is in the works and public comment on that project is due by May 13.

The Ohio Pass timber cut—expected to be a three-year project—would not happen until 2021 at the earliest and it is more likely to take place in the summer of 2022. Gunnison Forest District ranger Matt McCombs explained that the area was “analyzed with the Spruce Beetle Epidemic Aspen Decline Management Response (SBEADMR) Environmental Impact Statement, which had a decision signed in 2016.”

Basically the sale is intended to help keep the forest healthy. It would cut half-acre to two-acre swaths of timber out from the overall parcel.

McCombs had contacted town staff to inform them of the potential sale. Acting town manager Rob Zillioux told the council in April that the Forest Service identified the most appropriate haul route for the sale as Kebler Pass Road to Whiterock Avenue to Highway 135 and down to Highway 50. He informed the council that the sale is estimated to generate between 600 and 700 log trucks.

McCombs said because of the size of the sale, that number of trucks is likely. “The Forest Service came up with an estimated timber volume for the sale based on past sales of similar tree size and treatment type. We then calculated the number of log trucks with the assumption that 8-10 CCF of solid wood can be loaded onto a single log truck. CCF is 100 cubic feet,” he explained. “There are three possible haul routes to get these trees to the local mill: east on CR 12 [Kebler Pass Road], west on CR12, or down Ohio Pass Road.

“Ohio Pass is the least viable option due to narrow width, tight switchbacks, heavy traffic, rough road, encroaching aspens, and steep terrain,” he continued. “These factors make Ohio Pass Road unsuitable for commercial traffic. CR 12 is often used by commercial traffic and is much more suitable for log trucks. If log trucks were required to go west on CR12, haulers would face similar issues to Ohio Pass Road, as CR 12 west has multiple switchbacks, limited site distance as well as heavy traffic. These factors make CR12 east through town the most suitable option.”

The contract for the timber sale could include stipulations to deal with ramifications of hauling.

“The timber sale contract includes provisions that require the purchaser to maintain/repair roads,” said McCombs. “Language can be included in the contract to restrict hauling for certain time periods. These types of issues are why we’re reaching out, to understand the community’s concerns and reflect them in the contract language that will guide the Forest Service and purchaser during the sale years from now. I believe the earlier we talk with communities on work that is important but involves short-term impacts to folks—the better.”

According to McCombs, Forest Service timber sale administrators work with the loggers throughout the life of the sale to ensure the Forest Service contract is being adhered to. He said timber sales of this size generally have a contract period of three years, meaning the purchaser has a three-year window to complete all of the timber sale work and reclamation.

High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA) public lands director Matt Reed said there are suddenly a lot of logging proposals in the area. “The Kebler/Ohio Pass sale is just one part of the 120,000-acre SBEADMR project which is being implemented across the GMUG,” he noted. “At the same time, the Forest Service is pursuing even more logging on top of that, like the 15,000-acre Taylor Park proposal. This has less to do with forest health and more with feeding the mill in Montrose.”

The total area for the Ohio Pass logging project is about 2,000 acres. McCombs said the actual cutting would take place on about 30 percent of those acres in the form of small openings that are a half-acre to two acres in size, scattered throughout the 2,000-acre parcel.

“The treatment of the Ohio Pass area is intended to increase resiliency of these forested stands to spruce bark beetle and other stressors if/when they are affected by increasing the diversification of tree ages and sizes,” said McCombs. “Spruce bark beetle activity has been noted in the West Elk area although not at the epidemic levels seen south of Gunnison in the San Juans.”

Comment on Taylor Park project before May 13

Meanwhile, the Forest Service is taking public comment on a proposed Timber sale up Taylor Canyon. The 15,000 acres to be timbered would require building more than 100 miles of new roads to access the sale. That has the High Country Conservation Advocates asking for the sale to be reduced in size.

McCombs explained, “The goals behind the Taylor Park Vegetation Management Project are similar to what is being accomplished through SBEADMR but is directed at the lodge pole forests that cover much of Taylor Park and surrounding area. The proposed treatments are designed to reduce the presence of dwarf mistletoe, a parasitic plant, amidst the lodge pole while strengthening the forest’s ability to resist both catastrophic wildfire as well as infestation from other pests and pathogens. A draft environmental assessment that details the rationale and proposed activities of the project is currently available for review and comment by the public.”

HCCA feels the project is simply too big. “One of the most troubling aspects of this project is the proposed development of up to 109 miles of new temporary roads to access logging sites. That this would occur in and around Taylor Park—currently in the crosshairs of community conversations and concern regarding illegal trail use and unsustainable recreation impacts—means that HCCA is asking the Forest Service to reduce the project’s road construction,” said Reed.

“The proposed project is more than is needed to treat mistletoe, and would have possibly significant impacts to wildlife, recreation, and other resources. Therefore, we strongly recommend a much smaller project … Widespread logging that results in significant clear cuts has the potential to negatively impact multiple recreation experiences. Fifteen thousand acres of timber treatment, new road construction, and industrial equipment on the landscape could significantly and adversely impact established uses, wildlife habitat integrity and connectivity, and the lives of property owners in the vicinity,” said Reed.

McCombs said another interesting facet of the project is that the Forest District is working with Western Colorado University’s Center for Public Lands on the project to strengthen and broaden public engagement as well as integrate best available science into district decision-making.

“They’re helping the Forest Service formulate a representative group of diverse interests to support both the development of the project and its implementation,” McCombs said. “In addition, they’ve assisted in fielding a science team comprised of university and agency scientific professionals to ensure the proposed work is reflective of contemporary scientific understanding.”