The Salida Ranger District of the Pike-San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands completed a forest health project in the Threemile Creek and Browns Creek areas off Forest Service Road 272 near Nathrop, Colo. The intent of this project is to create forest conditions that are more resilient to insect infestations, lessen disease susceptibility and reduce the likelihood of high intensity wildfire.
The timber from this project is decked and available to the public for firewood with the purchase of a fuelwood permit beginning July 1, 2024. Fuelwood permits are available for purchase on the Salida Ranger District annually from June 1 through Nov. 30. Fuelwood tags and maps of the designated cutting areas are issued with the fuelwood permit. All loads of firewood must be tagged with a valid fuelwood tag. Cutting fuelwood without a valid permit is punishable by a fine. The cost for a fuel wood permit is $10 per cord with a minimum purchase of three cords. Personal use fuelwood permits can be purchased at the Salida Ranger District Office at 5575 Cleora Rd, Salida, Colo. 81201.
This project was completed using mechanical treatments that included a combination of thinning and regeneration harvests using the cut-to-length harvesting equipment. In the cut-to-length method, two machines are used, called a harvester and forwarder. The harvester cuts down, delimbs, and measures the trees, cutting them into lengths. The forwarder moves the trees to the desired staging location. The harvester has a crane arm that can reach approximately 30 feet, which enables efficient selective thinning. In selective thinning, a dense forest stand is thinned, and the healthiest trees are left to grow.
“Since the harvester can delimb the trees in the forest, the nutrition-rich top and limb slash are left behind,” said Timber Sale Administrator for the San Isabel National Forest Justin Anderson. “This gives the trees left growing, or the new seedlings that sprout, the benefits of added nutrients to the soil.”
Top and limb slash consists of leaves, needles, branches and tops of the trees that have been harvested. Slash is also placed on the driving path to reduce the strain of the machine on the terrain. The cut-to-length method is more efficient, uses less equipment and leaves less of an impact to the ground than traditional logging equipment.
“There is no zero-sum game where one resource benefits and another is impacted with this work,” said Salida District Ranger Perry Edwards. “I see benefits to all resources and people who get easy access to firewood.”
For more information on the San Isabel National Forest fuelwood program visit, https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/psicc/about-forest/districts/?cid=fseprd563989.
