In its continuing campaign against bark beetles, the Dixie National Forest plans to harvest 22 million board feet of timber in an area known as Sidney Valley.
Located just east of Brian Head Ski Resort in Garfield County, the Sidney Valley project will affect about 1,800 acres of forest, primarily spruce trees.The project is the largest of several "salvage" projects that the forest is undertaking to combat a beetle infestation that broke out last summer, following a mild spring that allowed the beetles to flourish.
The Dixie Forest's philosophy is to remove the infested trees while they still have market value and to selectively take other trees to keep them from becoming affected.
Environmental groups say they recognize the beetle problem but oppose the large-scale attack that the forest is waging. The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance believes the forest is using bark beetles as an excuse to "get out the cut," or harvest a large quantity of trees to make the forest look profitable.
And the salvage sales are not subject to the same environmental scrutiny as regular sales, notes SUWA spokesman Ken Rait.
Forest Supervisor Hugh Thompson denies that the salvage sales are being used to circumvent environmental policy and increase timber production.
Nevertheless, the salvage sales are contributing to a larger-than-anticipated impact on the forest. Two years ago, Thompson told the public that he anticipated an annual average yield of 17 million board feet throughout the forest. That figure will now more than likely double, up to 40 million board feet per year.
Here's a rundown of the salvage projects:
- Sidney Valley project: Of the 22 million board feet to be cut down, about 17.6 million will consist of trees already affected by the spruce beetle. The other 4.4 million board feet harvested will be unaffected trees that will be cut to help stop the spread of the beetles. (A million board feet is enough lumber to frame 71 typical, 1,700-square-foot homes.)
The project will require 6.7 miles of new road construction and 5.6 miles of road reconstruction and reconditioning.
- Panguitch Lake project: Located on 2,500 acres west of Panguitch Lake in Garfield County, this project will harvest 2.3 million board feet of timber. Idaho-based Boise-Cascade Corp. has purchased the timber and plans to begin building roads into the area as soon as conditions allow.
- Rainbow Meadows project: Harvesting of 4 million board feet began last fall on about 500 acres northeast of Cedar Breaks National Park.
- Brian Head project: A 300-acre area of forest around the ski resort is infested. Dixie officials plan to release a preliminary report on this project next week.
Dixie officials are also evaluating three other projects: Bunker Creek, a large area between Sidney Valley and Panguitch Lake; Blue Spring, south of Panguitch Lake; and Radar Ridge, a 2,000-acre area south of Cedar Breaks.