The New Era - All about Sweet Home since 1929

The Sweet Home Ranger District announced Monday, May 23, that the final environmental assessment has been completed for the proposed 89,000-acre Quartzville-Middle Santiam Project located in the Willamette National Forest about 20 miles northeast of Sweet Home.

The management project, as proposed, would thin nearly 90,000 acres of overgrown forests, create firebreaks and open spaces, and maintain and reconstruct nearly 300 miles of roads in the Quartzville Creek-Green Peter lake and headwaters and Middle Santiam River watersheds.

It consists of about 75,000 acres of National Forest System lands and 14,000 acres of private lands all within the Quartzville Creek-Green Peter reservoir and the headwaters of the Middle Santiam River and associated watersheds.

The current plan would include commercial thinning (5,200 acres), gap creation (170 acres), dominant tree release (600 acres), and skips (1,400 acres).

Those activities would utilize ground-based yarding (4,160 acres), skyline yarding (2,700 acres), and helicopter yarding (450 acres) to produce an estimated 50 to 60 MMBF.

The proposed plan would also maintain and reconstruct about 287 miles of system roads, decommissioning 14 miles of roads, and 19 miles road closure (19 miles).

Also, it would include noxious weed treatments, meadow restoration, snag and downwood creation, planting native conifers and post-harvest piling and burning.

A 45-day objection period began Monday and will conclude on July 7.

For more specific information on the project, including how to respond, visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=57351.