Timber Projects and Sales in the Bureau of Land Management
Vivid images of sagebrush, cows, rocks and dirt may come to mind when you think of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), but you may be surprised to know that BLM also manages forested tracts of land. In 2010, the BLM produced over $29 million in timber/wood products sales nationally. Each BLM field office determines how the timber is managed and sold based on what they hope to accomplish for specific areas of forests. Private contractors profit from the timber they harvest and simultaneously help the BLM with various resource objectives. Objectives include: reduction of hazardous fuels, enhancement of healthy forests and assistance with aspen rejuvenation.
Almost 190 million acres of Federal forest and rangeland in the lower forty-eight states face high risk of large-scale insect or disease epidemics and catastrophic fire due to deteriorating ecosystem health and drought. In efforts to keep forests and rangeland viable components of our natural resources, the Idaho BLM conducts numerous fuels and timber projects every year. Each project goes through a regimented and detailed environmental review process to ensure wildlife habitat and other natural resources are not adversely affected.
Overgrown forests are unhealthy and allow disease to spread more easily, while a healthy forest has large openings with ample grasses for animals to forage and is better adapted to wildfires. Timber sales and fuel projects such as the Yale/Kilgore project and Moose Timber Sale in the BLM’s Upper Snake Field Office are important tools used by the BLM to enhance our forests.
The Yale/Kilgore project is a prime example of how fuel and timber projects can enhance forest ecology, restore natural vegetation, and prevent catastrophic wildfires. The forest in the Yale/Kilgore area near Island Park was inundated with heavy growth. Sunlight could not penetrate the canopy to provide sustaining rays to smaller vegetation and new growth. In addition, the increased vegetation created the threat of wildfire to local homes and summer residents. The BLM worked with a contractor to remove dangerous ladder fuels and create space between trees to allow other grasses and forbs to grow.
Nearby this area, another threat is impacting the forest. The spruce budworm insect is a widely distributed and destructive threat to spruce trees of the northwest. Feeding on the buds and needles of new growth, the worm kills the young saplings and eats the cone of mature trees preventing them from reproducing. Because the tree requires its needles to produce food, the defoliation results in stunted growth and even death. Carried by the wind with help from their silk thread, the spruce budworm spreads rapidly from tree to tree. The results of this epidemic are devastating to the forest.
Certain silvicultural practices can however limit the budworm’s ability to wipeout large forested areas. The BLM works with contractors to thin forests to provide additional tree separation and due to the increased space, the budworm is unable to spread as easily. In the Yale/Kilgore project, the leftover slash material was chipped into biomass products and sent to a processing plant to run its boiler system. Biomass is a clean renewable energy source made from organic material (in this case trees), which can be used in a variety of ways.
Timber sales, such as the 700-acre Moose timber sale, allow the contractor to utilize trees for lumber, house logs and other products. The BLM makes money on these sales based on current market prices. Forestry technicians work one-on-one to identify specific trees the contractor is allowed to use. Areas where the contractor has been working, or where they have created temporary roads, will be returned to its natural condition through re-seeding and rehabilitation. If the area is steep, BLM may create water berms to decrease potential erosion problems.
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