Living the Shield: Timber Management

Background: This was another feature story, in a publication that was primarily designed for Forest Service employees across the Pacific Northwest. For this project I was editor of said publication, and in addition to providing layout I also was the source of this story idea. I planned the on-site visit, conducted the interviews and took the photos. And then I put it all together and crafted a package that was seen by over 4,000 people. All of whom came from a variety of different education levels and backgrounds.

The cover page for the September 2018 issue of Valuing You: An R6 Update. This image features a Forest Service employee in uniform, looking off into the distance between the trees of a recently logged timber stand. Photo Credit: Kathryn Dawson, USDA Forest Service

Living the Shield: Timber Management Kathryn Dawson; Editor, Pacific Northwest Region Looking for lilies probably isn’t the first thing people think of when it comes to logging in our National Forests, but for employees on the Ochoco National Forest sometimes it’s the littlest of things that can make the biggest of differences. Calochortus longebarbatus var. peckii, or Peck’s mariposa lily, is a unique and sensitive species endemic to the Ochoco and a few other places in central Oregon. A flowering perennial that prefers intermittent streams and other, seasonally wet sites, the areas that were traditionally known to be lily habitat were generally logged during the winter time, so that the heavy machinery could float on top while the lily bulblets stayed safely nestled under several feet of snow. “This was a winter unit,” Forest Service Representative Jamie Rae Serra explained while hiking into one of her sale areas. “Harvest only under two feet of snow, or with so much frozen ground and a foot of snow.” “But we haven’t really been getting the winters to really depend on that,” she admitted. “We wanted to know if there was any way we could do it, and still protect that habitat.” So she recruited some help, and together with Harvest Inspector Dylan Little, Timber Resource Specialist Beccie Sakraida, Sale Administrator Kathy Schrage and Biological Sciences Technician Jennifer Abernathy, the group headed out to visit the site to see for themselves what might be able to be done. The first thing, they decided, was that they should conduct a search to see if there were actually any lilies still present in the sale area. Fanning out, the group kept their noses down and their eyes focused on the ground as they canvassed the area carefully looking for any signs of the elusive lily. They walked along the fence line boundary and crisscrossed the interior, but at the end of their search they turned up empty handed as they came to the conclusion that the area was no longer home to the lily known as calochortus. With that knowledge, the group huddled together to plot a course forward. To provide for more light, nutrients and room to grow for the aspen and older pine in the stand, the original prescription for the unit had called for the harvesting and thinning of all unmarked trees smaller than 21 inches in diameter. But it also contained an equipment exclusion, to protect the calochortus, that would have required all of the trees to be felled by hand. Left: On a search for Mariposa Lily, or calochortus, in one of the sale units, the crew gets together to determine how the area could best be logged. Right: Happy trees are healthy trees, and healthy trees need room to grow, just like these ponderosa pine now have thanks to the successful completion of a timber sale.

Without the ability to use heavy equipment like feller bunchers, skidders and log trucks, the plan was to have people go in with chainsaws, where they could cut down the trees, and then winch them to the road. In theory this was supposed to have less of an effect on the overall ground disturbance, which would have served to protect the delicate calochortus. But with so many smaller trees and so much winching, the group wondered if perhaps there wasn’t a better way. “If we can find an area and stay on an existing disturbance,” Dylan wondered as he appeared to be thinking out loud, “we could create a centralized skid trail. A buncher could go out there, pluck the trees, and bring them back to the skid trail, and I think it would have a lot less effect on ground disturbance than winching the trees.” Using, or more appropriately re-using, land that has already been disturbed is now a pretty common practice, and with the history of logging in our Region most places have already had heavy equipment operating on a network of former skid trails, temp roads and landings that now lay dormant and ready to be re-used. This sale area was no exception, and between the larger, second growth “black bark” ponderosa pines the group soon found what they were looking for. An area that originally could only be logged by hand, during winter, and under a certain amount of snow was now freed up and able to be mechanically treated. While there may not have been any lilies, the ground and the stream are still going to be protected, and with the option to use equipment like feller bunchers, skidders and log trucks it should make for much quicker work of a sale that should now be even more appealing to our potential purchasers. Left: 1) Jennifer Abernathy leans in to take a close look during the search for lilies; 2) Dylan Little and Jamie Rae Serra tread carefully while looking for calochortus, 3) Beccie Sakraida and Kathy Schrage hike the fenceline during their portion of the search. Clockwise: 1) Kathy and Dylan scout out a potential skid trail between the taller and older “black bark” ponderosa pines; 2) The crew is all smiles as they meet up to work out a mutually agreeable solution while simultaneously increasing the pace of production.

And quick work is important, not only for our purchasers and contractors, but for our sale administrators and other timber resource staff as well. With some of the longest travel times in the Forest Service system, Ochoco Sale Administrator Kathy Schrage can sometimes spend up to six hours a day driving back and forth to her sales. “From Rager this would be a half hour,” Kathy explained as we arrived at the landing. The Rager Ranger Station, one of the most rural and isolated District Offices in the Forest Service system, was closed in 2012 after a commendable 104 years of service. With a 75 mile commute to Prineville, the closest town with full services and home to the current Ochoco National Forest offices, it can take a long time to get across the forest. But it can take even longer for the wood to get to the mills. The purchaser for this particular stewardship agreement, Kornish Forest Contracting, sends their wood to two different mills in Oregon. Both owned by the Interfor Pacific Company, the Gilchrist mill, located 160 miles away, will take the pine and process it into products like the doors, sash and window trim that are sold in every hardware and home improvement store across the country. The fir, which makes up most of the harvested wood in this unit, will have to go a little farther in order to be processed. Travelling 230 miles to the fir mill in Molalla, each log truck driver will take their load up and over the Cascade Mountains, five days a week, so that they can be processed into the studs and lumber that will be used to build houses for people to live in, businesses for them to work, and the communities in which we all grow. It’s a long haul, but with people like Kathy ensuring our sale areas are being protected it’s ecologically and economically viable. We can make our stewardship agreements work, not only to help the land, but to also help keep food on the table and a roof over the head of everybody involved. Top to bottom: 1) Brett Turpin hops out of his feller buncher; 2) Kathy Schrage and Mark Price raise dust clouds while walking at the landing; 3) Mark Price points while Nate Kitchingham and Kathy Schrage both look off in the distance. Above: Upon arriving, Kathy is greeted by her four legged friend named Alex. Right: There’s nothing quite like a good joke shared between loggers and a sale administrator at the landing.

Selective logging is helping to do good things all over the forest, and when done correctly it doesn’t take long for areas to rebound and recover as the remaining trees soak up the extra water, light and room to grow. “This was logged last fall,” Jamie Rae said as she was surveying the sale unit. “The cleanup started just a few weeks ago, they used a dozer with a brush blade to rip out the temp road and to loosen the soil, and then they’re going to seed it in the fall. And that will be that last thing to do as part of the contract. Seeding is required, but you have to wait until you get some moisture in the fall.” Utilizing a private contractor, a special “Ochoco” mix is used, and after being seeded the grasses will soon start to grow and break up the soil compaction even more. The local area is treated, but the good work doesn’t stop there. Stewardship agreements also involve service work, like building and repairing the wooden fences that protect our sensitive resources from wandering livestock and wildlife. Fences, that are often made of lodgepole pine, that come from the timber sales on the neighboring Deschutes National Forest. From one forest to another, our forest products are truly putting people to work. We may talk a lot about doing the greatest good, for the greatest number, in the long run, but its people like Kathy, Beccie, Dylan, Jennifer and Jamie Rae who are all working hard to get it done. Left: 1) Dylan Little and Jamie Rae Serra smile while standing in front of some happy trees in a sale area that has been recently thinned; 2) By opening the area up and reducing competition for water and light, these trees will now stand a better chance to grow larger as they make it to old age. Right: 1) A scattering of a few tree trunks is the only indication that this area was recently a timber sale; 2) Dylan looks up while talking about how the area was carefully logged.

junior wildland firefighter: A DAY CAMP FOR GIRLS Christy Pelland; Director, SheJumps Wild Skills With a mission to increase the participation of women and girls in outdoor activities, SheJumps Wild Skills, a 501c3 nonprofit, worked with dedicated volunteer and USFS employee Meaghann Gaffney and her team of coworkers from the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area and Deschutes National Forest to create Junior Wildland Firefighter; a day camp that introduces girls to the facets of wildland firefighting while interacting with the strong women of the firefighting community. The day camp mimicked the experience of a hand crew throughout the day. In a real fire situation, a hand crew of 20 or so people is broken into squads of 5-7 people. Each hand crew has a crew boss, and in the mornings each crew boss attends an incident briefing where they learn about expected weather, current and expected behavior of the fire and what the mission for the day is. After the incident briefing the crew boss goes back to brief the rest of the crew, and from there the crew hikes onto the fire line. Once on the line the squads will breakout from each other, and each squad has a specially trained “type one firefighter” in command; this person is called the squad boss. Sometimes the squads will have similar assignments, and sometimes they’ll be markedly different. Day camp is no different, and first thing in the morning the girls were divided into squads by age. With Forest Service firefighters acting as squad bosses and SheJumps volunteers helping to manage the group, all of the teams took part in the morning briefing lead by USFS Hotshot and Handcrew member Lauren Clark, who explained the weather outlook, goals and mission for the day. Next up, Assistant Fire Management Officer Loretta Duke discussed and demonstrated how to properly build a fire, and Kat Schut jumped in and had the girls identify burnable, small diameter fuel for the fire and taught them about the fire triangle. The triangle illustrates the three elements a fire needs to ignite: heat, fuel, and an oxidizing agent, such as oxygen. A fire naturally occurs when the elements are present and combined in the right mixture, and in no time, their fire was blazing. Duke called on Lidi Soto-Morales from the Central Oregon unit to put it out, and during this time Lidi and the rest of the squad leaders introduced themselves to the group and shared a little bit about how they got into fighting fires and ended up working for the Forest Service. Left: Meaghann Gaffney shows the girls how a wildfire in a densely packed forest on a steep slope can burn and spread during the dynamic fire board presentation. Right: The girls from the purple squad stop to take a bearing and find the way during one of the navigation exercises.

After the meeting, the group was treated to a surprise visit from a local wildland fire engine. Each team got a personalized tour of the fire engine, and after getting a chance to spray the hose the squads hiked out to the ‘fire line’ where they encountered a series of educational stations designed to help teach vital outdoor skills. Navigation was led by Kati Santini, a Biological Science Technician who helped the girls familiarize themselves with topographic maps. With two different compass courses set up to teach directional basics, the girls learned how to shoot a bearing and how to follow a line as they navigated their way from point to point during a search for hidden treasure. Moving on to the First Aid Station, Adrienne Vought & Danielle Lipsky taught about first responder practices, and the girls learned about minor splinting ideas and how to stop bleeding using basic first aid kit supplies. The girls also learned about hydration, electrolytes and what to do if someone is displaying signs of heat stress, and an overall favorite of the teams was creating a make believe injury while responding to it with the correct remedy. The Team Building & Communication Stations were directed by each squad, where they worked through the many variations of the “Hot Fire Game.” Using only the boards they were provided with, the girls learned about radio communication and the important role that it plays in wildland fires when they had to work together as a team to create a bridge across the ground or “hot fire.” If anybody fell or stepped off of the boards the team had to go back to the starting line, and this challenging activity prompted talk about times where they have experienced challenge and triumph both as a teammate and individual. At the Weather & Fire Behavior Station Meaghann Gaffney taught the girls about situational awareness, and how weather, terrain and the environment can affect fire behavior. Walking through the trees, the teams were instructed on how to tune into nature so that they could notice the slightest changes in wind speed, direction, cloud cover and temperature. Top to bottom: 1) Kat Schut has the girls help identify burnable, small diameter fuel for the fire; 2) Lauren Clark shows the proper way to use a fire hose. Above: Lidi Soto-Morales talks with the red squad about how she became interested in wildland firefighting. Right: Loretta Duke points the way during a navigation exercise where the girls learned how to use a compass to find their way in the woods.

They studied fire weather cloud charts, worked to identify the clouds in the skies, and talked about the role lightning can play in starting wildfires. There was a discussion about what to do, and how to stay safe, if ever caught in a wildfire, and last but not least the station wrapped up with a dynamic fire board demonstration, where two small boards full of matches representing a “thin” and “dense” forest were lit on fire in order to help show the differences in how forests can burn based on fuel loads and the steepness of the slope. The day was supposed to wrap up with a group demo of line construction and a chainsaw demonstration, but four of the Wildland Firefighters had to run when they were called out to an area fire. The all lady engine crew promptly responded to the Lambert Road Fire, a 7 acre fire that needed lots of ‘mop up’ to be completely put out. While it was a little disappointing to miss out on the planned demonstrations, the girls were very excited to get to be able to watch these strong women roll out and get the job done! Clockwise: 1) Learning how to read a topographic map and how to use a compass are essential when heading out to the forest; 2) Adrienne Vought and her smiling friend prove that laughter really can be the best medicine at a stop at the First Aid Station; 3) A girl from the red squad gets some help while spraying the hose; 4) MacKensie Russo leads a discussion with the green squad about one of the teamwork exercises.

Sticking true to the Wild Skills motto of ‘work with what you’ve got,’ the team shifted gears and worked to fit in a few extras: a colorful lesson in the 10 Essentials, a review of Leave No Trace principles, and a focused sound mapping exercise that required the girls to observe their surrounding only by what they could hear. True to form, the day wrapped with an After Action Review where the girls recapped their day of learning and talked about the challenges and rewarding experiences. For some their favorite part was the fire board experiment, and for others it was their first encounter with using a compass, but at the end of the day everybody had fun as each and every participant was presented with a Wild Skills Junior Wildland Firefighter certificate along with a congratulatory handshake! This event was made possible thanks to the commitment of longtime SheJumps volunteer, Meaghann Gaffney, who put in the time & effort to create the curriculum with Wild Skills Director, Christy Pelland. Gaffney also reached out to her contacts at the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, who were already looking for opportunities to create more youth education programs in response to last year’s devastating Eagle Creek Fire. Gaffney’s desire to provide outdoor adventures and educational opportunities for young girls continues to inspire, and the people at SheJumps are incredibly grateful to have her as a teammate. To learn more about how to bring a program like this to your area, please contact Christy Pelland atcpelland@shejumps.org For more photos and information: www.shejumps.org Special thanks to Clif Bar, Adventure Medical Kits and GoGo Squeez Far left: 1) Women from the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area spend time with the next generation of women wildland firefighters; 2) The red squad passes the board up the line while making a bridge during the Hot Fire Game; 3) A SheJumps Wild Skills booklet sits on top of a map that will lead the way for one of the navigation exercises. Clockwise Above: 1) Lidi Soto-Morales uses a yellow water bucket to show how to properly drown out a fire; 2) Danielle Lipsky listens intently at the First Aid Station; 3) Balance is essential, if anybody steps off of the boards during the Hot Fire Game they have to go back to the start line; 4) Two of the girls hold up their proudly earned certificates from the Junior Wildland Firefighter day camp.

celebrating 50 YEARS OF ADVENTURES Chamise Kramer; Public Affairs Specialist, Rogue River-Siskiyou NF With 2018 marking the 50th anniversary of both the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and the National Trails System Act, land management agencies and our partners across southwest Oregon were in a perfect place to help the public celebrate some of these most special of places. Home to the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, the Rogue River Trail and seven Wild and Scenic Rivers, more than anywhere else in the continental United States, the area is practically full of places to celebrate and explore, and for one day earlier this summer more than 1,000 people came together for a fun filled day of music, food and family friendly activities as they supported local businesses and learned about Southern Oregon’s rivers and trails. The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, along with the Bureau of Land Management’s Medford District, the National Park Service’s Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve, the Army Corps of Engineers, Oregon State Parks, Rogue Riverkeeper and REI Medford, combined resources, staffing and funding for an event that included performances by local musicians from the bands “33 String Drive” and “Flat Five Flim Flam.” Booths from public lands agencies, local rafting outfitters, guides and even trail groups were set up, and the colorful Salmon Tent and Inflatable Cave/Bouncy House were on-hand as well as visits from the ever-popular Bigfoot, J.R. Beaver and of course, Smokey Bear. It was truly a fun day, and definitely one to remember, for the next 50 years and beyond! Clockwise: 1) The BLM’s Table Rocks Crew shares stories with kids inside the Salmon Tent; 2) J.R. Beaver from Oregon State Parks shakes Smokey Bear’s hand; 3) The Leave No Trace Bigfoot makes a new friend; 4) Chamise Kramer from the Rogue River-Siskiyou NF chats with a couple about their favorite place to play; 5) A young boy holds his drawing up to show his love of river fishing; 6) Robyn Janssen from Rogue Riverkeeper was instrumental in planning the event.