Sam Owen Campground set to reopen
Scattered branches and trees partially cover the sign to the entrance of the Sam Owen Campground. About 5,000 hazard trees — those considered likely to fail in part or in whole — were identified by the U.S. Forest Service and are in the process of being removed.
(Photo by HILLARY MAIN)
In this September 2020 photo taken by Hillary Main, a boat at Sam Owen Campground lays under a tree knocked down in a massive windstorm. Thousands of trees in the area that were damaged by the storm are now being removed by crews, U.S. Forest Service announced Wednesday.
A few of the trees knocked down in a devastating windstorm that hit the Hope Peninsula last September. Crews are in the process of removing about 5,000 trees damaged in the storm.
HOPE — Hundreds of hazardous trees remaining from a wicked Labor Day windstorm in 2020 in the Hope Peninsula are being removed, paving the way for the Sam Owen Campground to reopen to visitors by Memorial Day weekend.
“We are really pleased to reopen on schedule this year at one of the most visited campgrounds on the National Forest,” Sandpoint District Ranger Jessie Berner said in a press release. “It took a tremendous amount of good work by a lot of people over the winter and spring to get us to this point, so I can’t thank our contractors and employees enough for their efforts and care of this special place.”
Forest Service officials said Tuesday that crews were working quickly to remove the remaining hazardous trees and debris piles left over from the storm.
Hundreds of trees were toppled, and a total of 5,000 identified as "hazard trees," in and around the campground, as a result of the storm, USFS officials said in February.
Forest managers are mandated to mitigate threats, including hazard trees, to visitors at developed recreation sites. Hazard trees are those with a structural defect that make them likely to fail either in part or in whole.
The ability to open the Hope area campground comes as a result of a lot of hard work and dedication by USFS employees and contract crews, Patrick Lair, USFS public information officer, told the Daily Bee.
That work follows an intensive effort by the crews since the windstorm ripped across the campground, damaging numerous trees. And while several landed on vehicles, USFS officials said luckily no one was hurt.
An assessment following the storm revealed that a large number of trees were structurally damaged and in danger of failing in whole or in part if left standing.
Work to remove the hazard trees began last January and the Forest Service organized a commercial timber sale to remove merchantable timber from the down and damaged trees and gathered debris into more than 100 large piles. To date, most of those piles have been burned or removed.
Clean up work is continuing, Lair said.
The campground is slated to reopen to visitors on May 27. The Red Sun Loop will offer first come, first served campsites throughout the season, while the other sites must be reserved.
Lair said the Forest Service makes every effort to provide a safe camping experience in developed recreation sites, but visitors are always urged to think about safety and report any issues to the camp host or the local ranger district office.
The popular site, the second-largest campground under USFS management in the state, has been closed since the Sept. 7 storm. The 82-campsite property was donated to the USFS by the Owen family in 1941 to be used as a public recreation site in perpetuity.
'[That] made it especially important for the Forest Service to ensure the site is well cared for and open for campers," Lair said.
