Slopes of Mount Walker spared from timber harvest
Connie Gallant, right, of the Olympic Forest Coalition, meets with other members of the coalition, Anne Ricker and Kim Siemion. Mount Walker is in the background. -- Steve Mullensky/for Peninsula Daily News
By Jeff Chew, Peninsula Daily News
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Mount Walker timber harvesting was originally proposed as part of the more than 3,000-acre Jackson timber sale, which would include the harvest of second- and old-growth trees, but Olympic National Forest supervisor Dale Hom said Wednesday that Walker would be spared from the sale.
Olympic Forest Coalition activists, who see Mount Walker as a natural icon overlooking the Hood Canal, hailed the decision.
"The big news is they dropped all the old-growth," said Kevin Geraghty of Seattle, a coalition member along with Quilcene resident Connie Gallant and John Woolley of Sequim.
"We are pleased that we don't have to appeal it."
The sale proposed in May 2005 could have generated up to 40 million board-feet of timber.
In his decision to instead thin smaller trees on 1,590 acres of National Forest timberland west of Mount Walker and U.S. Highway 101, Hom cited coalition members' fears that clear-cut logging and additional logging roads would be harmful to water quality and fish habitat.
Also taken out of the sale were the eastern slopes of Buck Mountain and Mount Turner.
Certain areas in the vicinity of Rocky Brook that sport older forest attributes also were spared.
In the accepted alternative, 3.1 miles of new logging roads would be cut and acreage harvested would be at 60 percent to 90 percent crown closure — which refers to the percentage of ground covered by a vertical projection of the outermost perimeter of tree crowns in a stand.
Geraghty said the Walker and Turner units proposed in the original plan contained some trees older than 115 years.
Gallant, who with others in Quilcene founded www.savemountwalker.com to draw attention to the National Forest's logging proposal, said Mount Wallker holds "a very, very nice backdrop of maturing trees to nice old growth."
Changing times
"How times have changed," Hom said in his written decision.
"The Northwest Forest Plan introduced approximately 15 years ago changed the cultural and economic landscape of the Olympic Peninsula that continues to evolve today.
"Gone are the days of the Forest Service clear cut."
Explaining why he chose not to allow bidding for timber on Mount Walker, Home said, "As we progressed through the planning process, it became apparent that the forest stands located on Mount Walker and Unit 6 are already beginning to develop some of the old-growth characteristics we are trying to achieve through thinning."
Much of Hom's decision was based on strong public opinion against Walker being part of the Jackson timber sale.
The National Environmental Policy Act involved public hearings and a public tour of the timber sale sites, which included discussions led by Dean Yoshina, district ranger for the U.S. Forest Service's Quilcene Ranger District.
Gallant said that the Olympic Forest Coalition gathered 144 signatures of those opposed to logging Walker.
"We feel very fortunate. I think he and his staff could see the potential harm to Mount Walker," she said, referring to Yoshina.
"We're very happy that staff of the Forest Service was able to study at length and conduct the entire process."
Attempts to contact Yoshina were unsuccessful on Friday.
"In reviewing the Jackson sale's final version, it's clear that the Forest Service heard the public's input and responded accordingly," coalition representatives said in a written statement.
"We are quite certain that the agency spent many extra hours studying each nuance of the sale, relying on both their professional expertise and the public's stated concerns.
"Happily, Mount Walker will not be logged as part of this sale."
Still skeptical
Nevertheless, Olympic Forest Coalition members remain skeptical of agency claims that thinning in western Washington forests more than 50 years old will benefit their development in any way.
"And we cannot condone the construction of new logging roads, temporary or otherwise, given the maintenance backlog for old roads elsewhere on the forest that threaten the health of our watersheds," the coalition said in the statement.
Tim Davis, forest planner for Olympic National Forest in Olympia, who was involved in the process, said the Forest Service's next step is to lay out the timber sales units on the ground, write a contract and prospectus and then call for bids on the timber sale and harvest.
"To the casual motorist driving by, this will not be noticed," he said.
"Generally, they will take out the smaller trees, leaving the biggest."
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Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
Last modified: February 03. 2008 9:00PM