TuCARE looks at forest density

By Alex MacLean The Union Democrat

More prescribed burning and selective thinning projects are needed to return California forests to a healthy and sustainable condition, according to some of the area’s leading experts.

Fire suppression by humans has more than doubled tree density in some parts of the Stanislaus National Forest since the 1930s, said Roger Bales, a hydrology professor at University of California, Merced, who is conducting studies on forest thinning in the Stanislaus-Tuolumne Experimental Forest outside of Pinecrest.

“The forest densities we have can’t be sustained in the current climate,” he warned Monday while speaking to a group at Pinecrest Reservoir as part of an annual bus tour sponsored by Tuolumne County Alliance for Resources and Environment, also known as TuCARE.

“We’ve reached a tipping point for our precipitation in the Sierra Nevada to sustain the forests that we have.”

This year’s TuCARE Natural Resources Tour focused on “becoming a resilient forest community.”  Area foresters, scientists and government officials gave presentations throughout the day about forest management practices and policies.

Stops on the tour included a visit to a timber sale being logged on public lands, an experimental forests plot outside Pinecrest, the Sierra Pacific Industries Standard lumber mill and the Pacific Ultrapower Chinese Station biomass energy plant in Chinese Camp.

Bales also spoke about recent research in the Stanislaus National Forest looking at tree density’s effect on mountain water runoff and snowpack accumulation.

While many local loggers and environmentalists agree on the solution, money is one of the key points of contention preventing more public-private forest thinning projects from moving forward.

Bales is hoping some of his research into the benefits of thinning forests on snowpack accumulation and water runoff will help attract investment from water agencies who depend on the Sierra Nevada watersheds for supply.

“If you’re going to bring investment to the table, you need verification,” he said.

Harvesting timber from public lands is a highly regulated process that can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in planning alone.

Stanislaus National Forest Supervisor Jeanne Higgins said a 15,000 acre project could cost up to $500,000 for the required environmental studies and planning before any logging can actually take place.

There’s also potential for a lawsuit to derail the project.

“You could put a lot of money into a project, get litigated and then never move forward with the actual project,” Higgins said.

After the Rim Fire, U.S. Forest Service officials said they were lucky to do only a few thousand acres of thinning per year in the Stanislaus National Forest.  However, Higgins said the agency has a goal to ramp that up to 500,000 acres per year across the state.

Yosemite Stanislaus Solutions, a diverse group that includes environmentalists and loggers, is making headway to advance more of these types of projects locally.

The group last year sided with the U.S. Forest Service to combat a lawsuit attempting to halt salvage logging work in the area burned by the 2013 Rim Fire.

There’s also projects being done in coordination with local volunteers to create fuel breaks in strategic areas that aim to prevent a similar catastrophic wildfire.

A fuel break in the Cedar Ridge area created by the Highway 108 FireSafe Council was recently credited with helping to stop the spread of the Oak Fire that threatened the Sierra Outdoor School.

Lawmakers are getting involved as well.

A number of area political leaders rode along for Monday’s tour, including Congressman Tom McClintock, R-Roseville, District 1 Supervisor Sherri Brennan, District 2 Supervisor Randy Hanvelt as well as supervisors or candidates from Amador, Madera, El Dorado and Alpine counties.

McClintock co-sponsored legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in July that would make it more difficult to file lawsuits over forest thinning and exempt such project from certain environmental requirements.

“We’re losing vast tracts of national forests, a lot of people’s homes and now several lives,” he said.  “When we have policies that are supposed to accomplish one thing and they end up accomplishing exactly the opposite, maybe it’s time we revisit those policies and change them.”

The Butte Fire in Calaveras and Amador counties recently claimed the home of Tim Tate, district manager for Sierra Pacific Industries, who shared his story on Monday’s tours.

Tate had to evacuate Friday, September 11, as flames surrounded the home in Mountain ranch that he shared with his wife, Patty Raggio, a volunteer firefight at the Central Calaveras Fire District.

Much of the land burned by the Butte Fire was privately owned, Tate said, which makes it more difficult to plan thinning projects due to the diversity of ownership.

“How do we get all of these owners on the same page?  It’s a question we better solve or we better get used to Butte fires,” he said.  “It could happen in Tuolumne County right outside Sonora next year.  It could happen this fall.”