Logging planned for Alsea Falls

BLM project aimed at healthier forest, more scenic park.

Sometimes, you can’t appreciate the forest for the trees.

That’s the situation at the Alsea Falls Recreation Site, according to the Bureau of Land Management. The federal agency wants to cut down about 1,300 trees to improve overall forest health and open up thick tree stands to create a more pleasing appearance.

Located about 10 miles west of Alpine, the 15-acre park is a popular warm-weather getaway for Benton County residents, with 22 picnic tables and 16 campsites. A trail follows the South Fork of the Alsea River through a series of broad, shallow pools down to the 30-foot cascade that gives the park its name.

The park is covered with second-growth timber, mainly 50- to 60-year-old Douglas fir with a scattering of alder, maple and other species. Around the campground, the stand density is about 100 trees an acre, with an average diameter of around 21 inches, said Hugh Snook, a BLM forester. Along the trail and in the picnic area, the stands are denser — around 260 trees to the acre with a typical diameter of 15 inches.

The goal of the thinning operation is to open those stands by removing diseased or wind-damaged trees as well as trees that are being shaded out by healthier neighbors.

“The impression you get going down the trail is it’s a very dense, tight stand,” Snook said. “At this point, it seems like we’re starting to lose more trees due to density mortality.”

In the past, Snook said, the BLM tended to wait until trees died before removing them from recreational sites such as Alsea Falls. But the agency is looking to take a more proactive approach.

“There’s really two main objectives,” he said. “One is to remove the hazard (caused by weakened trees), and then the other thing is to improve the appearance.”

BLM specialists will survey the site on foot in the fall of next year, marking trees designated for removal. The logging would take place in late 2010, after the park closes for the season.

The logging part of the operation would go out to bid as a timber sale, although Snook said there are no estimates yet of the the volume of salable timber. The cleanup would be done by BLM staff, volunteers or contract workers.

“Basically, it’s a lot like thinning in your garden,” said Trish Hogervorst, a public affairs specialist with the agency. “That will help the larger trees grow better.”

Local environmentalists appear to have few concerns about the project.

Chandra LeGue of Oregon Wild said an initial look at the BLM’s plans raised no major red flags. In her comments on the proposal, she urged the federal agency to leave some dead snags for wildlife habitat and to take extra care about disturbing the ground in public use areas of the park.

“My main concern was that they be sure to give that riparian area a nice buffer,” LeGue said.