This sale is a combination of two different logging projects, the Oak Grove thin (mainly located on the Oak Grove fork of the Clackamas) and the Upper Clackamas thin.Bark has decided not to appeal this sale due to the fact that the USFS reduced acreage and reduced road miles per our request. We also wanted to test out the new Stewardship Contracting authorities, which are designed to direct the the proceeds for the sale towards restoration projects on the Forest. We are working with a collaborative group to make this happen and will see what we think after the restoration projects have been accomplished and the logging has been carried out. We ‘ll then evaluate participating on these projects in the future. Various pieces of this logging project have been sold and logged. Initial monitoring of these logged units has raised a number of concerns such as damaged soils, logged deciduous trees (losing the small amount of diversity present), logged large trees with saved small trees, heavy road construction (1.8 miles of temporary ‘roads and 3.4 miles of new roads). On the plus side, the remaining trees do not display the damage typically found after a logging operation. Whether or not this “restoration ” stewardship project is appropriate for an area that the forest service plans on clearcutting ( ‘even aged management ‘) is the key question.As found on page 2 of Appendix E for the Cloak logging project the eventual plan for the area appears to be a clearcut. ‘Even aged management is the optimal appropriate silvicultural system and commercial thinning is the optimum harvest method for those stands prescribed for treatment because it meets the objectives of the NORTHWEST FOREST PLAN the MT HOOD FOREST PLAN and the recommendations of the UPPER CLACKAMAS LOWER CLACKAMAS and OAK GROVE WATERSHED ANALYSES. These stands have not reached culmination of mean annual increment for fiber production. ‘

Bark’s Concerns

Initially the logging projects proposed commercial logging on 307 acres of native forest between the two sales. For the original Oak Grove sale it was proposed to log 699 non-reserve acres and 267 acres of Riparian Reserve (yes, they will be logging Reserves), with 213 acres of clearcuts in scattered 1-3 acre sizes to increase forage within the non-reserve areas and 546 acres of aerial fertilization. For the original Upper Clackamas it was proposed to log 530 acres of non-reserve acres and 165 acres of Riparian Reserves, with 293 acres of clearcuts in scattered 1-3 acre sizes to increase forage within the non-reserve areas, and 460 acres of aerial fertilization. The totals for the combined projects on the EA shifted slightly from the original proposal 1332 acres of non-reserve logging, 217 acres logged in riparian reserves, 545 acres of clearcuts to increase forage for deer and elk within the non-reserve areas, and 1049 acres fertilized. They are planning to have a number of different logging sales (7?) come out of this EA.