City readies for timber harvest

SANDPOINT — After an unexpectedly successful year of timber harvests in the Little Sand Creek Watershed, city officials are aiming to repeat their good fortune.

According to forester Mike Wolcott, the 2012 timber sale initiated last fall surpassed the expected $60,000 in revenue generated for the city, bringing in $72,000 when all was said and done.

“The money we got was pretty surprising considering the market conditions,” Wolcott said.

A slightly larger timber harvest is planned for this year as a follow-up to the success of last fall. Compared to last year, which cleared out 308,000 board feet worth of timber, the proposed 2013 plan would remove 450,000 board feet over a 100-acre area south of the 2012 harvest region. Wolcott expected that such a harvest would bring in revenue to the tune of $95,000, although that figure is very fluid due to a state of flux in the log market.

The timber harvest isn’t intended to simply to make money for the city. It’s also a way to protect the region, a high priority for the city considering its value as a watershed.

The harvest last year and the one this year are strategically executed to reduced the space between the tops of the trees.

That significantly reduces the risk of wildfire, which can spread much more quickly jumping from the top of one tree to another.

“It’s called a crown fire, and once that happens, there’s really no way to fight it except to get out of the way,” Wolcott said.

The timber harvest will also pave the way to introduce new tree species resistant to common regional root diseases — another preventative measure.

The site of the 2012 timber harvest is projected to be replanted this year with 1,080 white pine, 400 western larch and 100 ponderosa pine at an expense of $1,800 to the city.

Finally, Wolcott said that this was also the year to revisit the forest management plan. The previous management plan was completed in 2007, and since then, the city has added on 240 acres to the watershed by purchasing a parcel of land from Schweitzer. A new plan would add considerations for that new land. In addition, the watershed would be inspected as a whole to ensure that management priorities are appropriately assigned. Wolcott projected the estimated cost of updating the plan at $2,850.