The U.S. Forest Service has announced that it will move forward with the proposed 89,000-acre Quartzville-Middle Santiam Project located in the Willamette National Forest about 20 miles northeast of Sweet Home.
The approved project will treat about 7,800 of the 89,000 acres in the Quartzville Creek-Green Peter Lake and Headwaters Middle Santiam River watersheds on the Sweet Home Ranger District.
The project treatments include commercial thinning (5,300 acres), shelterwood with reserves (140 acres), gap creation (170 acres), dominant tree release (620 acres), and skips (1,570 acres).
The project will also include about 287 miles of system road maintenance and reconstruction, 14 miles of offroad decommissioning, 19 miles of road closure, as well as noxious weed treatments, meadow restoration, snag and down-wood creation, planting native conifers, and post-harvest piling and burning.
It will not include timber harvest in stands over the age of 80, according to a letter issued by Acting District Ranger Michelle King, who is standing in for Sweet Home District Ranger Nikki Swanson as she temporarily fills another position.
The project is intended to improve the health of forested lands, while producing 50 to 60 million board feet of timber “in an economically and ecologically sustainable manner,” according to King’s letter.
King reported objections from the American Forest Council and three individuals, while environmental organizations Cascadia Wildlands, Oregon Wild and Willamette Riverkeepers submitted a joint letter of support.
Documentation and more information is available at http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=57351.