Two Forest Service fire hazard plans challenged

By JoAn Bjarko
North Forty News

A Forest Service plan to reduce wildfire hazards in the Red Feather Lakes area will proceed, but at a slower pace as the agency waits for Congress to approve its fiscal 2005 budget.

Earlier this year, several environmental groups led by Colorado Wild appealed the fuels treatment plan for forestlands around Crystal Lakes Subdivision and Beaver Meadows Resort, saying it relied too heavily on clearcutting.

The groups also contested a plan for the Sheep Creek area, and that appeal is still being reviewed. A decision is expected in mid-October.

Rocky Smith, Forest Watch program director for Colorado Wild, contended the Forest Service failed to consider alternatives to clearcutting. He said he agrees with parts of the two plans, but thinks they could be better.

The Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest plans to treat fuels on about 3,320 acres in the Crystal Lakes area. The appeal was reviewed at the regional office in Denver, which concluded the district did consider a wide range of treatment options and that clearcutting is the optimal method for lodgepole pine. The plan includes thinning 2,767 acres, broadcast burning 70 acres and patch clearcuts on 483 acres.

The 4,500-acre project called Sheep Creek 2 would clearcut more than 1,400 acres of forest. "We feel strongly that clearcutting the backcountry is a waste of taxpayer money," said Phil Cafaro, a spokesman for the Sierra's Club Poudre Canyon Group.

The conservationists agreed, however, that portions of the projects that reduce wildfire risk closest to homes and restore ponderosa pine stands should proceed.

Dyce Gayton, environmental coordinator for the Canyon Lakes District, said Forest Service crews could do some work such as thinning, hand piling and chipping around Crystal Lakes now. A major contract won't be awarded, however, until the Forest Service budget is approved for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1. Gayton estimated the cost for the Crystal Lakes project at $420,000, depending on bids.

Because the project is strictly for fuels reduction, the district is not putting a priority on contracts that will produce marketable timber.