The Forest Service is proposing harvesting 30,000 acres of infested timber along Skyline Drive at the north end of Wasatch Plateau.
An epidemic of Spruce bark beetles has struck the timber stands, preying on trees that are weakened due to six years of drought."Over 90 percent of the saw timber is dead," says John Vasten, a timber staff officer with the Manti-La Sal National Forest. "It's the worst infestation we can remember on this forest."
Nearly every national forest in Utah is experiencing timber damage due to bark beetles, which eat into the wood and cut off water from the roots to the branches.
"Basically, the beetle strangles the tree," says Glen Jackson, zone forester.
The beetles have wiped out 40 million to 60 million board-feet of timber within the 30,000 acres, said Ferron District Ranger Ira Hatch. A board foot is wood 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 inch. It takes about 15,000 board feet to build a 2,000-square-foot home.
Approximately 100 infected trees were removed recently from the Twelvemile Flat Campground area to prevent further spread of the insects and to eliminate the eyesore they presented. Remaining healthy trees near the campground were sprayed with insecticide, but forest officials say the cost of treating the rest of the living trees in the area would be exorbitant.
They have proposed cutting down more dead and dying trees to recoup some of the financial loss from the infestation and then planting seedlings. While the infested section now comprises about 80 percent of the susceptible Englemann spruce species, the reforestation would include a more balanced variety of evergreens to prevent insects from wiping out an entire stand in the future.
If approved, the salvage would be the largest timber sale on the Manti-La Sal in years, welcome news for area sawmills.
The environmental assessment study will look at the logging's impact on plants and wildlife. Only dead or dying trees could be cut, which would increase the cost of harvesting.