City approves timber sale

SANDPOINT — The city is getting more from its portions of the Little Sand Creek Watershed than control over a valuable water supply.

At the regular council meeting last Wednesday, city officials authorized the sale of timber across 50 to 60 acres in the city-owned property. The sale will harvest about 200,000 board feet of timber from several species of trees, including douglas-fir, western hemlock and grand fir.  

The sale will serve two purposes. First, it will generate about $30,000 for the city, which can then be put toward the purchase of additional land in the watershed.

However, it will also improve the overall ecological health of the region. The removal of trees will reduce the amount of fuel near Schweitzer Mountain Road, improving safety and accessibility in the case of a wildfire.

“We will reforest the area with trees less susceptible to the common problems up there,” forester Mike Wolcott said.

The new trees planted along the area will include blister rust-resistant western white pine, ponderosa pine and western larch. These trees are less susceptible to the problematic insects and diseases common to the area, improving the overall forest health. This planting will probably take place in the spring of 2013.

According to Wolcott, the tree harvest will target trees of poor quality with the objective of increasing space between tree crowns within 500 feet of the road. A combination of commercial thinning, group selection and sanitation harvest techniques will likely be used to accomplish this. The project will play out with special attention paid to maintaining the water quality and aesthetics of the area.