Forest official gives update on insect damage, tree thinning
By Ellen Wedum, Secretary
Published in Mountain Monthly, December 2007, page 5
The meeting was called to order at 6:07pm by Chair Lou Wilkerson.
Present: Lou Wilkerson, Stephen Cook, Marsha Slane, Jerry Sutherlin for the village of Cloudcroft, Jim Ellett, Ethel (Jeannie) Cooke, Delores Manatt, Tom Ward, Jeff Winkel, John P. Rauch, Hans Steinhoff, Ellen Wedum, Russ Wright, Beth Mahill, Deb Garland, RL Posey, Lou Woltering.
After the minutes and treasurer’s report were presented and approved, Tom Ward, representing the Weed-Sacramento area, made a donation of $300 to cover the cost of the 501.c.3 application and also offered the use of the Weed Community Center without charge for meetings. Russ Wright asked if Mayhill (which is now charging SSWG $25 per meeting) was chosen as a permanent location. Lou said the SSWG meetings are actually supposed to rotate locations, so meetings should be held at Cloudcroft and Weed on occasion.
Lou asked for a vote on changing to quarterly meetings. Stephen Cook suggested every 2 months instead. It was moved by Stephen Cook, seconded by Jim Ellett, that we have bi-monthly meetings. Motion carried. The next meeting will be in January. Beth Mahill moved that the January 10, 2008 meeting be in Mayhill and the March 13, 2008 meeting be held in Weed. Russ Wright seconded, the motion carried.
Stephen Cook mentioned the email from Governor Richardson about setting up a Water Cabinet. Both Stephen and Lou felt it looked like a big improvement in the way water issues are treated in this state.
Guest Speaker Lou Woltering, Lincoln National Forest Supervisor, spoke on the bug situation and plans for thinning next year. The bug (Nepytia janetae) responsible for the defoliation around Cloudcroft and areas south of Cathy Peak is a fir-looper that feeds on conifer needles over the winter. It is endemic to the Sacramento Mountains but its damage wasn’t noted until March and April of 2006 and it wasn’t identified until June 2006. Spraying to control the outbreak around Cloudcroft was from Monday November 5 to 11am Tuesday November 6. The county sprayed about 1400 acres. The USFS sprayed 4500 acres on National Forest System lands and all of Cloudcroft was sprayed. The chemical used is “BtK,” very effective against this kind of bug. About 1 gallon of the chemical per acre was applied. Conditions were perfect, no wind or rain and about 40% humidity.
Prior to spraying they had to do an environmental assessment. The biggest concern was the checker-spot butterfly, which is found nowhere else in the world. Potential problems with having it listed as endangered would be far greater than waiting until it went into diapause (winter sleep), when it would not be affected by the spraying. The Forest Guardians notified US Fish and Wildlife that they intended to sue, so the USFS, county and the village of Cloudcroft all agreed to postpone spraying. The Forest Guardians were very pleased that everyone agreed to wait. This project did not get appealed like spray projects often are. Lou Woltering feels the fir looper will not be a problem for a while in this area, and the USFS will be doing post-monitoring of the effectiveness of the spray.
Marsha Slane asked if there any plans underway for trees that do NOT come back? Lou Woltering said that the majority of the trees have recovered. They look different but have green needles. There are currently insufficient numbers of dead trees for a commercial timber sale to be profitable for the lumber companies. Drought or further infestation could kill additional trees in the next 2-5 years and the decision from this environmental assessment may then allow for salvage. Additionally, the Forest Service has contracted with a Forest Service organization called TEAMS that is doing an environmental assessment to salvage dead timber on approximately 7500 acres (of 14,000) that appear most likely to suffer substantial tree deaths. Slopes greater than 40% and Mexican Spotted Owl habitat will limit the areas that can be harvested.
The poor housing market has led to low lumber prices, and increased fuel have greatly impacted the timber industry. The White Sands Sawmill in Alamogordo is currently shut down and may not open again unless another buyer can be found. This could greatly impact the opportunity for vegetation treatments using timber sales, on the Lincoln in future years.
The Lincoln National Forest administration is being encouraged to do another stewardship project on the Sacramento river drainage. The one in Sixteen Springs with the Mescalero Apache tribe is working very well. Although there are all kinds of trees in the Sacramento River drainage, they would still have to deal with protecting habitat for Mexican Spotted Owls, restrictions on slopes greater than 40%, meadow protection, visual quality, etc. when planning projects. A large portion of the trees and biomass material probably cannot be touched.
There are 11 national forests in our multi-state region. The regional administration is now prioritizing expenditures for forest restoration and fuels treatment. The Otero County WUI (Wildland urban interface) Working Group has identified the entire Sacramento Ranger District as WUI, however, the USFS will continue to focus on areas adjacent to subdivisions and multiple dwellings instead of isolated (back forty) areas in the forest.
This fall the USFS is concentrating on controlled burns—they are trying to get about 7,000 acres burned this fall because they are concerned it will be too dry to burn next spring.
Another question was, if after the Burgett fire, Scott Able fire, etc, did they actually see more ground and/or surface water? Seems there is no clear-cut evidence that absence of trees helped although several small streams and springs did start flowing again and continue to flow.
Ellen Wedum suggested developers should be required to do the WUI thinning beforehand as a requirement for approval for a subdivision instead of making the taxpayers do the job afterward.
Other economic problems were mentioned—Lou Woltering said that Marty Moore can’t get biomass projects going because companies need capital investment up front and a guaranteed supply of trees for a minimum of 5 years.
Jim Ellett mentioned that the BLM through NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service) is having some success in spraying to kill off brush and mesquite to increase grazing areas. There is little or no cost to the rancher up front but they have to lay off grazing in the sprayed area for 2 years.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:40pm.