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YSS in the Press and Stories of Interest

Judge Clears Way for Rim Fire Logging

YSS in the Press and Stories of Interest, YSS News

Excerpt of article by Alex MacLean, The Union Democrat

The U.S. Forest Service’s major logging project to remove dead trees from the area burned by last year’s Rim Fire cleared another legal hurdle Tuesday when a federal court judge denied the second attempt by environmental groups to halt the work. U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. denied a preliminary injunction sought by the Center for Biological Diversity, Earth Island Institute and California Chaparral Institute. He said that the Forest Service had met all requirements under the National Environmental Protection Act in studying the logging project’s potential impacts on the California spotted owl.

“In his first decision, he very clearly pointed out that the Forest Service had taken all the necessary steps to show it was thoroughly evaluating all of the potential effects,” said John Buckley; executive director of the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center.  Buckley; an environmentalist, formed an unlikely alliance this year with local loggers as a member of the Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions, a forest-project planning group that includes other environmental organizations, logging companies and governmental agencies in the region.  The group advocated for the Forest Service’s plan to remove burned trees across about 30,000 acres in the Rim Fire’s footprint, producing up to 210 million board-feet of lumber – enough lumber to build roughly 13,000 homes.

Buckley called Tuesday’s decision a ”win-win” for the timber industry as well as local environmentalists who are concerned about wildfires in the Stanislaus National Forest, where the fire burned about 154,000 acres.  He added that the amount of logging approved by the Forest Service is a fraction of the total 254,000 acres burned by the fire. “This is good because, (the project) will remove some of the excess fuel that would create high potential for yet another catastrophic fire,” he said. “It will allow (logging contractors) to get it out while the wood still has value, rather than have taxpayers pay for the fuel to be removed in the future.”

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Finding Common Ground with YSS

YSS in the Press and Stories of Interest

IMG_0451Mike Albrecht, abridged version

THE YOSEMITE-STANISLAUS SOLUTIONS (YSS) collaborative group is a highly diverse coalition of interests who share a common goal: restoring and maintaining healthy forests and watersheds, fire- safe communities, and sustainable local economies
using a science based approach.

Though originally founded to find common ground, tackling difficult resource management issues became its primary concern after a field trip in 2010.

For YSS, that field trip was pivotal in bringing the group together. Positive change happens when people get involved and focus on a desired outcome. YSS envisioned a healthy forest.
Though comprised of diverse stakeholders, the group realized that if they didn’t learn to work together that natural resources and the quality of life provided would be at risk.

Disagreement and stalemate were soon replaced with enthusiasm. Funding was secured from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy for a wide variety of projects, including: forest thinning, meadow restoration, as well as road and culvert repair.

When the Rim Fire hit, the group was catalyzed into action.  It was obvious that salvage logging, followed by reforestation needed to happen quickly. Despite the controversy surrounding the logging, YSS supported the U.S. Forest Service in moving the recovery process forward.

 

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County backs Forest Service in logging suit

YSS in the Press and Stories of Interest

Excerpt from The Union Democrat By ALEX MacLEAN Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Tuolumne County has joined a coalition of forces formed to combat a recent lawsuit related to the U.S. Forest Service’s plan to allow logging on about 30,000 acres of land that burned. in last year’s Rim Fire. Proponents of the project say the removal of burned trees will reduce the risk for future wildfires in the area, prepare the landscape for reforestation and support jobs in the local timber industry.

Plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to halt the logging plan from moving forward until the Forest Service looks further into the potential impacts to spotted owls inhabiting the area and possible mitigation measures .

The coalition supporting the Forest Service is led by the American Forest Resource Council and includes California Farm Bureau, California Forestry Association, Sierra Pacific Industries, Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions and the Crook family, who lost cattle and an historic family cabin in the fire. Local environmental groups have also pledged support for the project as part of the Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions, including the Twain Harte-based Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center.

The lawsuit asks the court for a temporary restraining order to halt work on the project while the case is being litigated, but a federal judge has yet to set a date for a hearing to rule on the request.

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Great News on the Rim Fire Recovery Plan-Friends of Berkeley Tuolumne Camp

YSS in the Press and Stories of Interest

August 29, 2014 by Scott Gelfand

Dear Campers,

As you may have already read in the papers, the Stanislaus National Forest has announced its plans for salvage logging in the Rim Fire Area. In May and June, FOBTC worked closely with the Tuolumne River Trust and Yosemite-Stanislaus Solutions to understand the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and lead our letter-writing efforts. We first want to thank those of you that wrote letters to the US Forest Service in June, expressing our concerns about road building, wildlife habitat, and localized impacts near Camp.

Great News!!! We, along with our allies at the Tuolumne River Trust and Yosemite-Stanislaus Solutions, are very pleased with the plan announced by the Forest Service; they listened to all of the stakeholders and to you – the campers!

Organizations such as the Tuolumne River Trust (our old ally) and Yosemite-Stanislaus Solutions (of which we are a member) built a broad coalition to address the original US Forest Service proposal. The USFS responded to the stakeholders.

By incorporating a variety the input from environmental, recreation, local businesses, and timber interests, the highlights of this plan include:

For Us:
– This plan does not directly impact Berkeley Tuolumne Camp, which will be treated separately. Only hazardous trees are being removed!

– While ‘Hazard Tree Removal’ will soon take place at Berkeley Tuolumne Camp (we want that of course), FOBTC hopes to work with the City of Berkeley and the US Forest Service to ensure that environmental impacts are reduced and ALL healthy trees are left standing.

Forest wide:
– Salvage logging will take place on less than half of the acres that the US Forest Service originally proposed.

– It reduces the amount of timber harvested from 650 million board feet down to less than 210 million board feet. This is more consistent with the actual capacity of local lumber mills.

– Only 20% of the entire Rim Fire area will be salvaged logged. This will allow a lot of snag trees and wildlife habitat to remain untouched.

So, campers, thank you again for making your voices heard in June, and stay tuned for more updates as we work with our regional allies to influence the next chapter in the Rim Fire Recovery: the Reforestation Proposal.

Through this broad spectrum of support our allies and we can lobby for increased federal funding essential for the far-reaching restoration work required to restore the health of the forest and watershed.

This is a victory today for the USFS doing business in a new way, incorporating all the various stakeholder groups and working together in a cohesive way to sort out solutions! Progress!!

And for us, it gives our precious 14.5 acres a special prescription plan that focuses on hazardous tree removal only and special considerations when replanting begins. We truly are excited about this news.

http://www.fobtc.com/great-news-rim-fire-recovery-plan/

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Rim Fire Plan for Salvage Logging a Milestone

YSS in the Press and Stories of Interest

Excerpt from SFGate: Published 6:58 pm, Sunday, September 7, 2014

Salvage logging evokes instant and emphatic reactions. For loggers and locals, harvesting scorched but usable trees after a forest fire means money and jobs. But environmentalists and wildlife experts worry that chain-sawing stumps and snags only worsens natural recovery.

As a result, the agency is choosing a reasonable middle path, allowing salvage logging on 17,327 acres in the Stanislaus National Forest and tree removal on another 17,706 acres along side roads. An estimated 210 million board-feet of lumber will be milled, providing a jolt to the local economy still suffering from the wildfire and bringing in funds to replant a blackened flank of the Sierra adjacent to Yosemite National Park.

The salvage terms were worked out with the blessings of nearly every interest group, with timber firms and many conservation groups accepting the results. The final agreement wasn’t unanimous, though, and three environmental organizations went to federal court in Fresno to block the logging plan, contending the timber cuts will harm wildlife. Reaching a compromise plan that clears part of the Rim Fire dead zone and preserves the rest is a milestone. It’s a promising start on the monumental task of regenerating a swath of California’s landscape.  Read more at:

 http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/Rim-Fire-plan-for-salvage-logging-a-milestone-5740456.php

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Coalition Praises Rim Fire Logging Plan

YSS in the Press and Stories of Interest, YSS News

Excerpt from Modesto Bee article by John Holland
September 3, 2014

Salvage logging planned for the Rim fire area has won praise from a Tuolumne County coalition that includes environmentalists, the timber industry and other partners. The group agreed that the plan, approved last week by Stanislaus National Forest Supervisor Susan Skalski, strikes the right balance between protecting the land and marketing some of the trees charred in last year’s massive blaze.

Some environmental leaders have said the logging would harm the soil and the types of wildlife that thrive in newly burned areas. Chad Hanson, a forest ecologist and founder of the John Muir Project near Grass Valley, called it “an ecological travesty.”

A different response came from the coalition, known as Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions because of its interest in the national park and adjacent national forest. “The Forest Service plan is a good, balanced compromise solution,” co-chairman John Buckley said in an email to The Modesto Bee. He said the logging, planned for about an eighth of the burn zone, would leave plenty of habitat and watershed untouched while removing some of the dead wood that could fuel more fires.

Mike Albrecht, an industry forester and co-chairman of the coalition, agreed that the national forest plan is on target. Albrecht is president of Sierra Resource Management, based near Jamestown. Buckley is the executive director of the Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center, based in Twain Harte. They have disagreed on some forest issues in the past but have worked together on the salvage issue, as well as thinning of live timber in certain other areas to reduce the fire danger.

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Collaborative Group Supports Rim Fire Salvage Plan

YSS in the Press and Stories of Interest

PRESS RELEASE
FOR RELEASE NOW – August 27, 2014

Contacts:
Mike Albrecht, TuCARE (209) 984-1146 mikealbrecht@mlode.com
John Buckley, CSERC (209) 586-7440 jbuckley@cserc.org

The Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions (YSS) collaborative group supports the U.S. Forest Service moving forward with its newly released plan to selectively treat portions of the Rim Fire by salvage logging a portion of the dead trees.

Over the past year, the Forest Service went to great lengths to engage the public in the planning process that led to the approval of the newly released final environmental impact statement (FEIS) and Record of Decision. Not only were materials provided through the normal channels, but the Stanislaus Forest and the Regional Office of the Forest Service also sponsored webinars, open house sessions, and two major Rim Fire science meetings for stakeholders in Sacramento.

Mike Albrecht, chair of the YSS group, pointed out, “Because there are such vast numbers of dead trees that blanket many areas of the Rim Fire, there are plenty of dead trees for every need. This plan assures that enough timber can be salvaged to meet our timber industry needs while leaving more than enough behind for wildlife and watershed purposes. This is a win-win plan.”

John Buckley, co-chair of the YSS group, agreed, “If the Stanislaus Forest plan failed to remove some significant amount of the millions of dead trees, the resulting fuel accumulation as the trees fell over would pose extreme risk for another devastating fire. By strategically removing dense thickets of snags in some areas that can be managed for low fuel levels, the Forest staff can better ensure that a new re-growing forest will actually survive.”

YSS is an independent collaborative group made up of business interests, conservation groups, the timber industry, tribal representatives, motorized recreation representatives, and other diverse interests. The collaborative group earlier this year publicly supported salvage logging treatments being done before the dead trees deteriorate to the point that they no longer have any economic value as wood products. At that point, taxpayers would have to pay to have the dead trees removed to reduce fuel risk, rather than have the timber industry pay to remove the dead trees for lumber.

YSS also supports the Forest Service moving as quickly as possible to the next important phase of restoration, which is replanting high severity burn areas where no green trees survived to provide seeds for new young conifers. That reforestation planning effort is the next stage for the Forest Service in its extensive restoration efforts for the national forest portion of the Rim Fire area.

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National forests begin new era of cooperation after Rim Fire

YSS in the Press and Stories of Interest

Excerpt from article by William Wade Keye in “The Forester Artist”

A Tuolumne County group, which includes both timber industry and environmental representatives, had been meeting prior to the Rim Fire, searching for – and finding – common ground on previously deadlocked issues of forest management. Formed under the auspices of a 2009 law promoting ecological restoration, the Yosemite-Stanislaus Solutions collaborative is at the forefront of a new approach that is bringing people together to heal broken landscapes. The old “spotted owl versus logger” polarities have given way to fresh consensus, with fire ecology at its core.  Read more at:  https://theforesterartist.com/2014/06/

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Groups push for expedited Rim Fire logging

YSS in the Press and Stories of Interest

Excerpt from the article written by Alex MacLean, The Union Democrat, April 24, 2014 11:30 am

Local environmental organizations, the timber industry and others have joined forces to urge the Forest Service to approve fast removal of burned trees from the Rim Fire area. Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions, a coalition of environmental and logging groups, sent a letter to U.S. Forest Service Regional Forester Randy Moore on Tuesday, stressing the need for swift action to begin “salvage logging” projects on scorched parts of the Stanislaus National Forest.

“Unless speedy implementation is quickly allowed for whatever salvage logging is ultimately approved by the Forest Service, a tremendous amount of sawlog wood material will deteriorate past the point of having economic value,” the letter stated. “This would mean that the public would then need to pay in the future to have that fuel removed from the burn area.”

Delays could also lead to the build-up of flammable material that would create an “extremely high risk when future fires ignite,” the letter said.

Fast action is needed so that reforestation projects can begin. After removing the burned wood, the Forest Service can replant trees and restore habitats and watersheds.

For the complete story, see the April 24, 2014, edition of The Union Democrat.

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Diverse Interests Support Speedy Implementation Of Rim Fire Salvage Logging

YSS in the Press and Stories of Interest, YSS News

PRESS RELEASE
FOR RELEASE NOW – APRIL 22, 2014

Contacts:
Mike Albrecht, TuCARE (209) 984-1146 mikealbrecht@mlode.com
John Buckley, CSERC (209) 586-7440 jbuckley@cserc.org

Diverse Interests Support Speedy Implementation Of Rim Fire Salvage Logging

Background: In 2010, a variety of forest interest organizations and agencies formed a collaborative group called Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions (YSS) under the auspices of the U.S. Forest Service. In January of this year, YSS became an independent organization as representatives of the timber industry, environmental groups, business interests, local government, state and federal agencies, tribal organizations, and recreational interests created a charter, approved governance agreements, and elected officers for the collaborative. Over recent months, YSS has engaged in outreach — searching for grants and other funding to help implement highly needed restoration and fire recovery work within the massive 257,000-acre Rim Fire that burned so severely last summer.

The Key Action: On Friday, April 18, 2014, twenty-one members of YSS jointly approved a letter to U.S. Forest Service Regional Forester Randy Moore. The letter describes YSS members’ strong support for speedy implementation of Rim Fire salvage logging projects that are currently being planned on Stanislaus National Forest lands. In particular, the letter underscores the belief by those signing the YSS letter that any delays due to litigation or other reasons could jeopardize the multiple economic and environmental benefits that salvage logging treatments will yield.

At a time of often-divisive polarization and competing goals for resources, YSS is a visible example of many diverse interests focusing on areas of common agreement, rather than areas where members may hold differing views. The jointly supported position letter addressed to Regional Forester Moore is also being provided to federal politicians in order to emphasize YSS agreement that salvage logging, reforestation, and restoration projects need to be funded and to move forward expeditiously.

Mike Albrecht, YSS Chair stated, “We stand united in opposing any delay.” Vice-chair John Buckley agreed, “It is far more logical to have the industry remove dead trees with a return for taxpayers than to let the wood deteriorate so it loses saw-log value. In that case, taxpayers would end up having to pay huge amounts of money to remove the dead wood to reduce unsafe fuel levels. Delay makes no sense.”

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