Heli-Logging (incl pictures)
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Heli-Logging (incl pictures)
Helicopter logging of Oregon roadless area gets go-ahead
The Forest Service is planning to take timber company bids Thursday to log 350 acres in the largest swath of roadless forest along the Pacific Northwest's coastline after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected efforts to block the sale.
Forest Service and timber industry officials said the auction for helicopter logging in Oregon's Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest, which must draw a minimum bid of roughly $235,500, is an attempt to salvage logs damaged by a 2002 forest fire. But environmentalists said it marks the first time officials are allowing logging under new forest rules issued by the Bush administration two years ago.
The fight over Mike's Gulch, a steep slope of primarily Douglas fir trees lying in 367,000 acres of protected forest, opens a new front in the long-running battle over the nation's roadless areas. In July 2004 the administration reversed a Clinton-era rule that made nearly 60 million acres of national forest off-limits to road-building and development; the Forest Service is now pressing ahead with timber auctions in these areas.
Forest Service spokesman Joe Walsh said the move to auction timber in Mike's Gulch and a separate 1,000-acre area nearby next month is a way for the federal government to make money and cope with damage from the "Biscuit" fire that roared through the region four years ago.
"What we are doing is addressing that catastrophic fire," Walsh said, adding the area would not have been protected under the Clinton policy because of the fire damage. "It has nothing to do with the roadless rule."
But Rich Fairbanks – a Forest Service officer who led the Biscuit Fire Recovery project before he retired and now works for the Wilderness Society – said the logging would damage a pristine landscape on its way to recovery. The area provides habitat for species ranging from the spotted owl to steelhead trout.
"They are changing it from a wild area to more of a tree farm operation," Fairbanks said. "There's really no good economic reason to do this. There's no good ecological reason to do this."
A coalition of Western governors and environmental groups have sought to block the new logging regulations but have been unsuccessful so far. Walsh said federal authorities offered to abandon the two impending Oregon auctions if environmentalists dropped their suits, but the advocacy groups refused.
Aides to Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who along with the governors of California, New Mexico and Washington went to court an effort to keep roadless forest areas off-limits, said Wednesday the logging will deprive the state of some of its oldest trees.
"The only trees that have any real value in the area are the old growth trees," said Michael Carrier, Kulongoski's policy director for natural resources.
But timber officials argue they could have logged a broader range of trees if activists had not spent so much time trying to block the salvage sales.
"What the environmentalists have been trying to do is create more wilderness without having to go through Congress," said Chris West, vice president of the American Forests Resource Council. "You would think we were cutting the last tree in Medford, Oregon, if you listen to the rhetoric."
The Forest Service is planning to take timber company bids Thursday to log 350 acres in the largest swath of roadless forest along the Pacific Northwest's coastline after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected efforts to block the sale.
Forest Service and timber industry officials said the auction for helicopter logging in Oregon's Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest, which must draw a minimum bid of roughly $235,500, is an attempt to salvage logs damaged by a 2002 forest fire. But environmentalists said it marks the first time officials are allowing logging under new forest rules issued by the Bush administration two years ago.
The fight over Mike's Gulch, a steep slope of primarily Douglas fir trees lying in 367,000 acres of protected forest, opens a new front in the long-running battle over the nation's roadless areas. In July 2004 the administration reversed a Clinton-era rule that made nearly 60 million acres of national forest off-limits to road-building and development; the Forest Service is now pressing ahead with timber auctions in these areas.
Forest Service spokesman Joe Walsh said the move to auction timber in Mike's Gulch and a separate 1,000-acre area nearby next month is a way for the federal government to make money and cope with damage from the "Biscuit" fire that roared through the region four years ago.
"What we are doing is addressing that catastrophic fire," Walsh said, adding the area would not have been protected under the Clinton policy because of the fire damage. "It has nothing to do with the roadless rule."
But Rich Fairbanks – a Forest Service officer who led the Biscuit Fire Recovery project before he retired and now works for the Wilderness Society – said the logging would damage a pristine landscape on its way to recovery. The area provides habitat for species ranging from the spotted owl to steelhead trout.
"They are changing it from a wild area to more of a tree farm operation," Fairbanks said. "There's really no good economic reason to do this. There's no good ecological reason to do this."
A coalition of Western governors and environmental groups have sought to block the new logging regulations but have been unsuccessful so far. Walsh said federal authorities offered to abandon the two impending Oregon auctions if environmentalists dropped their suits, but the advocacy groups refused.
Aides to Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who along with the governors of California, New Mexico and Washington went to court an effort to keep roadless forest areas off-limits, said Wednesday the logging will deprive the state of some of its oldest trees.
"The only trees that have any real value in the area are the old growth trees," said Michael Carrier, Kulongoski's policy director for natural resources.
But timber officials argue they could have logged a broader range of trees if activists had not spent so much time trying to block the salvage sales.
"What the environmentalists have been trying to do is create more wilderness without having to go through Congress," said Chris West, vice president of the American Forests Resource Council. "You would think we were cutting the last tree in Medford, Oregon, if you listen to the rhetoric."
More jobs for pilots?
Why not Heli-Log burnt areas?
Intense heat from fires kill Douglas Fir trees turning them into standing snags that will only fall to the ground years after being burned. Heli-Logging is the method with the least impact on soil and small undergrowth. If left unlogged, the snags present a grave hazard to any people walking among them as they fall without warning.
The burnt trees are quite useful as sawtimber and other forest products except for the exterior portions of the log. Stumps are left in the ground to help hold the soil and the limbs and tops are also good habitat for small game.
Loggers will usually walk in and thus very little damage is done to the soil due to the absence of motorized vehicles.
The landings to which the logs are carried have to be no more than about one mile from the logging site due to the high cost of flying them by helicopter.
Basically, the trees to be "salvaged" are dead wood resulting from the fire and will only fall to the ground and rot over the next fifty years or so. Loggers are required to replant seedlings after logging which only speeds the regrowth of Fir trees.
The burnt trees are quite useful as sawtimber and other forest products except for the exterior portions of the log. Stumps are left in the ground to help hold the soil and the limbs and tops are also good habitat for small game.
Loggers will usually walk in and thus very little damage is done to the soil due to the absence of motorized vehicles.
The landings to which the logs are carried have to be no more than about one mile from the logging site due to the high cost of flying them by helicopter.
Basically, the trees to be "salvaged" are dead wood resulting from the fire and will only fall to the ground and rot over the next fifty years or so. Loggers are required to replant seedlings after logging which only speeds the regrowth of Fir trees.
Gatvol
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Great Pictures.
Some do not realize how much those fires can burn. I remember working on a fire some years back in Happy Camp, which is near where those pictures were taken. We were there for over 30 days as smoke prevented flying for many of them. Fires continued to burn...... Thousands of acres were lost.
It happens every year .
Some do not realize how much those fires can burn. I remember working on a fire some years back in Happy Camp, which is near where those pictures were taken. We were there for over 30 days as smoke prevented flying for many of them. Fires continued to burn...... Thousands of acres were lost.
It happens every year .
Excellent site with hundreds of photos about a large Fire in 2002
http://users.sisna.com/woodsonl/Fire.htm
This is an excellent site that portrays a 2002 Fire called the Missionary Ridge Fire.
It has maps, photos, and a wealth of other information about the fire and aftermath.
This is an excellent site that portrays a 2002 Fire called the Missionary Ridge Fire.
It has maps, photos, and a wealth of other information about the fire and aftermath.
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SoCal Bark Beatle
Not to take over the thread, but here in California, and in particular in SoCal, there are hundreds of thousands of acres of timber that are infested with the bark beatle. Some of the same crap that is happening elsewhere is also happening here as far as activists. The best thing is fire to kill the bugs, and then harvest the trees is there not to far gone. Sorry if I jacked the thread, but there are times to harvest.......
Here is a link to some more information.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1201182/posts
Here is a link to some more information.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1201182/posts
Chief Bottle Washer
A Work Safe BC video of help logging and all it entails 
Is there any other way?
I've seen guys long-line in B412 from the right seat better than I can do it in the left seat 
(not my first choice aircraft for doing this sort of work).
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Mmmmm ...
Left seat for me ....
Because I'm a 'short Ass' and its easier for me too see and fly the 'load' from the LHS of the a/c (ie its easier for me to see out and down leaning over to the left than to the right) and still smoothly operate the a/c.
But then that me !!
Left seat for me ....
Because I'm a 'short Ass' and its easier for me too see and fly the 'load' from the LHS of the a/c (ie its easier for me to see out and down leaning over to the left than to the right) and still smoothly operate the a/c.
But then that me !!
Last edited by spinwing; 9th May 2013 at 05:45.
