HomeMy WebLinkAboutAttachment 4.1-3 Public Review Delta 5yr Schedule FY 08-12 NAttachment 4.1.3 Public Review 5 YR Schedule Narrative
DELTA AREA FORESTRY
FIVE-YEAR SCHEDULE OF TIMBER SALES
FISCAL YEARS 2008 TO 2012
FINAL REPORT
April 11, 2008
State of Alaska
Department of Natural Resources
Division of Forestry
P.O. Box 1149
Delta Junction, Alaska 99737
Phone: (907) 895-4225
Fax: (907) 895-2125
email: Steve_Joslin@dnr.state.ak.us
FIVE-YEAR SCHEDULE OF TIMBER SALES
Table of Contents
Executive Summary………………..………..…...i - ii
Introduction……………….……………….….1
Allowable Harvest………………………….…..1 - 2
Harvest Plan……………………………..…..2 - 3
Agricultural Lands…..……………………….…. 3
Transportation……………….……...…………3
Reforestation…………….……………..….…. 3
Conversion Factor……………………………….4
Timber Harvest Schedule, FY08 – FY12………….……. 5 – 9
Transportation Schedule, FY 08………………...……. 10
Reforestation Schedule, FY08…….………...….…….11
Harvest Schedule Maps:
Map 1, Delta West…………………………. 12
Map 2, Delta East……………………….…. 13
Map 3, Lo wer Shaw Creek……………..……….14
Map 4, Upper Shaw Creek …………..………….15
Map 5, Quartz Lake and Delta River.………………..16
Map 6, Gerstle River…..……………..……….17
Map 7, Bison Range………….………………18
Map 8, Indian Creek…..……………...……....19
i
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Five-Year Schedule of Timber Sales provides information about timber sales and
associated road construction and reforestation activities in the Delta Management Area.
The forest management activities identified in this Five-Year Schedule of Timber Sales
are consistent with the Tanana Basin Area Plan (TBAP) and the Tanana Valley State
Forest Plan (TVSF). The TBAP and TVSF plans cover approximately 2.6 million acres
of State lands in the Delta Area.
HARVEST SCHEDULE SUMMARY
The following tables identify the timber sales that are proposed during the next five
years. The amount to be offered is dependent upon funding. The FY 09 sales that would
require additional funding are identified separately. The funding levels are not predicted
for FY 10-12. Additional information about the allowable harvest is in the schedule.
Fiscal
Year
No. of
Sales
W. Spruce
Cubic Foot
Sawlog and
Fiber Volume
White Spruce
Sawlog
Volume
In MBF
Birch and
Aspen Cubic
Feet Volume
Total Acres to
Be Harvested
08 6 1,436,000 4,786 40,000 705
09 1 600,000 2,000 75,000 250
** 7 1,040,000 3,466 975,000 1,070
10 8 1,160,000 3,866 150,000 670
11 8 1,840,000 6,133 1,715,000 2,050
12 9 2,170,000 7,233 220,000 1,120
TOTAL 39 8,246,000 27,484 3,175,000 5,865
** Sale Proposals are dependent upon funding and market.
TRANSPORTATION SCHEDULE SUMMARY
Fiscal Year All Season Road Winter Road
Construction Maintenance Construction Maintenance
2008 5.5 Miles 23 miles 0.3 miles 3 miles
In addition to timber harvesting, the Delta Area is planning to construct a total of 5.8
miles of all-season and winter roads during the first year of the schedule. An average of
7 miles of construction per year is anticipated during the next 4 years. New areas of
construction are anticipated near the Gerstle River, north side of Shaw Creek, near Black
Lake, north of Quartz lake in the Indian Creek and Rapid Creek drainages, on the west
side of the Delta River, on the west side of Delta Creek and on the north side of Caribou
Creek. A Transportation Schedule is not included for years 2009 thru 2012 because it has
proven to be too variable to estimate construction for more than one year.
ii
REFORESTATION SCHEDULE SUMMARY
Fiscal Year Scarification Plant Cost No. of Seedlings
2008 135 acres 0 $12,800 0
The majority of the harvested areas are reforested naturally. Careful logging practices
protect seedling, sapling, pole timber, and seed trees. Spruce seedlings are planted to
augment the natural regeneration on specific sites when necessary. No planting is
scheduled for FY 2008 because recent harvesting occurred on sites that are anticipated to
reforest naturally from the surrounding forest.
Scarification is not a standard practice but it is employed where deemed necessary to
ensure reforestation. Sale areas are examined frequently after harvest to evaluate
reforestation success. Areas needing additional stocking are planted during the 6th year
after harvesting has been completed. Due to the variability of the reforestation needs, the
reforestation schedule is projected for only the first year.
1
INTRODUCTION
This Five-Year Schedule of Timber Sales provides information to the public concerning
development and use of the state’s forest resources for the period July 2008 – June 2012.
The Five-Year Schedule of Timber Sales (FYSTS) meets the Forest Resources and
Practices Act requirements and acts as a basis for budgeting.
A Five-Year Schedule of Timber Sales provides a basis for DNR to decide where to
pursue timber sale planning. It provides the public, timber industry, and local
governments with an overview of proposed timber activities on state lands throughout the
Delta Area for the next five years. Listing a proposed sale does not mean a decision has
been made to go forward with the sale. The Schedule solicits input on whether or not to
proceed with sale planning, and on concerns to be addressed in sale design.
It is the policy of the Department of Natural Resources that: 1) All sales, including
salvage sales and sales less than 160 acres, will be included in the two Five-Year
Schedules preceding the sale whenever possible. 2) All sales, including salvage sales and
sales less than 160 acres, will appear on at least the Five-Year Schedule preceding the
sale unless waiting for the Schedule will: a) cause substantial losses of economic value on
salvage sales under AS 38.05.117, or, b) for sales less than 160 acres, preclude a local
economic enterprise or forest management project that is in the State’s best interest.
After adopting the Schedule, the Division of Forestry (DOF) will do more detailed
fieldwork to assess and design proposed sales. Before any commercial timber sale of ten
acres or larger is offered, DOF must make a finding that the sale is in the State’s best
interest and prepare a detailed Forest Land Use Plan (FLUP). The FLUP describes the
location, estimated timber volume, harvest methods, reforestation plan, access, and
multiple use considerations for each sale. Based on fieldwork, agency comments and
public input, DOF may make changes to individual sales previously listed in the
schedule. Any changes from the Schedule’s description will be incorporated into the
FLUP. DOF reviews each FLUP with the public and other agencies before adopting it.
The FLUP, not the Five-Year Schedule, is the final document that decides whether or not
DOF will offer a timber sale. All best interest findings, and Forest Land Use Plans will
be completed separately on a sale-by-sale basis. If a sale has been through the Schedule
and FLUP processes, and was offered as scheduled but not purchased, or was sold as
scheduled and returned to the State uncompleted, it can be re-offered within two years of
the scheduled sale year without being included in the schedule again.
ALLOWABLE HARVEST
The estimated biologic sustained yield harvest potential for the Delta Area was developed
by summarizing the lands that can grow commercial quality forests. Land classifications,
which designated forestry or timber management as a primary or secondary use, were
included in the evaluation. Other forested State lands, which allow timber harvest on a
case-by-case basis, were not included in the evaluation. Approximately 655,000 acres of
forested State lands in the Delta Area are excluded from the evaluation because of their
classification or poor quality.
2
The report, “Tanana Valley Allowable Cut Determination”, January 30, 2001, indicates
about 480,667 acres are capable of producing a commercial quality forest on lands with a
primary or secondary forestry classification in the Delta Area. The rotation lengths vary
for each species and the site quality. Generally rotation lengths averaged at 70 years for
deciduous trees and 110 years for white spruce. An additional 10 years was added to
provide a spruce reforestation period, raising the rotation to 120 years for white spruce.
The report calculated the sustained yield over a 10-year period. Based on the report, the
Delta Area can be expected to support a sustained yield of 4,873,600 cubic feet of white
spruce and 5,412,700 cubic feet of hardwoods on roughly 5,092 acres per year.
The majority of all commercial forest land in Delta is comprised of deciduous species.
These birch, aspen, and poplar stands are naturally converting to white spruce. If this
trend continues, the Delta Area is expected to have more white spruce available for
harvest in future years than exists presently because of natural stand conversions.
The report reduced the biological sustained yield to accommodate various harvest
constraints in the TVSF plan. The report establishes the Delta Management Area
allowable cut.
Several large fires have occurred in the Delta Area since the report, burning an estimated
46,000 acres of commercial forest. Initial analysis indicates that the poorer quality
commercial stands had the preponderance of burned acreage. A new forest inventory is
currently in progress. An adjustment of the allowable cut will occur at some point in the
future. Proposed harvest levels in this Schedule are well within possible changes to the
allowable cut.
The land base in the Delta Management Area is categorized by ownership as follows:
ACRES
463,000 Tanana Valley State Forest Lands
1,237,000 Other Forested State Lands
948,000 Other Non-Forested State Lands
650,000 Military Lands
469,000 BLM Lands
230,000 Native Corporation Lands
130,000 All Private Lands (includes farms, residential lots, homesteads,
native allotments, etc.)
_________
4,127,000 TOTAL LAND BASE
3
HARVEST PLAN
This five-year harvest plan proposes an average annual harvest of 1,649,200 cubic feet of
white spruce and 635,000 cubic feet of hardwoods. This harvest level is 36.9% of the
2001 estimated sustained yield of white spruce and 11.2% of the estimated sustained
yi eld for hardwoods in the Delta Area.
The Schedule lists 6 to 9 commercial sales that could be offered annually in years 1-5.
The Schedule proposes a total five-year harvest of 8,246,000 cubic feet of white spruce,
however, it should be noted that the actual amount of volume offered is dependent upon
the funding level and market demand. The summary identifies the sales and volumes that
would require additional funding to be developed and offered in FY 09. The funding
level is not predicted for FY 2010-2012.
The majority of the proposed sales contain white spruce 90 to 220 years old. Spruce
stands in the Delta Area are often uneven-aged because of the slow succession from
deciduous birch, aspen and poplar and eventually to white spruce. Except for fire sales,
harvests are generally selective or partial cuts, usually having 20 or more trees/acre after
sale completion.
AGRICULTURE LANDS
Merchantable timber on vacant agriculture tracts may be sold through a negotiated sale
process in year one of the plan. No sales are currently planned on agriculture tracts for
FY 08 but this could change with ownership status. Timber sale and harvest operations
are contingent upon approval by the Division of Agriculture. The farm conservation plan
requirements will need to be met. Timber volumes to be sold from agriculture tracts are
not part of the timber base for State lands in the Tanana Basin Area Plan (TBAP) or the
Tanana Valley State Forest (TVSF).
TRANSPORTATION
Timber sale access development will continue to pioneer roads into the surrounding
forests of the Delta Area. Road construction and maintenance is usually completed by
the purchasers of timber sale contracts. Some construction and maintenance has been
completed by CIP funding.
The plan anticipates new road construction to access timber sales at Fowlers’ Farm, Shaw
Creek Flats, Quartz Lake Bowl, Indian Creek, Rapid Creek, Bison Range, Gerstle
Drainage, Black Lake, Little Gerstle River as well as the west side of the Delta River and
along the Tanana River. DOF will address each access development in the Forest Land
Use Plans of proposed timber sales submitted for agency and public review. Access
development will be in accordance with the Forest Practices Act regulations.
4
REFORESTATION
Reforestation is completed through sale design which promotes natural seeding through
seed trees, protection of existing saplings and pole timber during harvest operations, sale
scarification where appropriate, direct spot seeding, and planting of seedlings.
Sales areas, almost without exception, reforest to a mixed stand of white spruce, birch,
aspen and poplar. Overstocking is as much of a concern as under-stocking.
Reforestation progress is monitored year by year to ensure adequate stocking. All harvest
areas rely on natural seeding to some degree. Reforestation efforts have been successful
in the Delta Area. Native species will be used for all plantings.
Current practices require the timber sale purchaser to complete scarification, when
necessary. The State provides the tree seedlings and completes planting through a tree-
planting contractor.
CONVERSION FACTOR
One cubic foot averages approximately 3.33 board feet (300 cubic feet equals about 1000
board feet) in the Delta Area.
COMMENTS
Please address your comments to the attention of Steve Joslin at:
State of Alaska
Department of Natural Resources
Division of Forestry
P.O. Box 1149
Delta Junction, AK 99737
Email: Steve_Joslin@dnr.state.ak.us
Phone: (907) 895-4225
Fax: (907) 895-2125