White Mtn. National Forest discusses timber harvest plan in Tamworth

Controlled burns, tree thinning projects under way in North Country

About two dozen people came out to the selectmen’s meeting last Thursday to listen to White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) staff explain the Sandwich Vegetation Management Project that will occur in Sandwich and Albany in the next couple of years.

Forest Service officials who attended were led by Saco District Ranger Jim Innes, who is based in Conway.

The purpose of the WMNF Sandwich Vegetation Management Project is to create wildlife habitat and timber products. Innes said, “If you want to go to Home Depot and buy a two-by-four for $4, that’s coming from a managed forest.”

In total, up to about 650 acres of timber will be harvested.

Area 1 is called Guinea Hill in Sandwich. There will be single and group harvesting, tree thinning, regeneration harvests (clear-cutting) and a controlled burn to promote oak.

The second area is near Ferncroft Road in Albany and will have harvesting, both single tree and groups of trees, as well as tree thinning.

The third area is in Albany near the Liberty trailhead and will have thinning, regeneration harvests and a prescribed burn to promote oak.

Work in these areas might take three to five years or so to complete, but depending on the purchaser (logger or mill) in the sale, some areas may be completed sooner.

Assistant District Ranger Rick Alimi said weather would be a factor affecting when the work takes place. For example, a logging project might be postponed if the ground is too wet from rain.

Alimi said there will be two timber sales, and Guinea Hill and Ferncroft and Liberty will be combined. The sales are tentatively scheduled to be sold in 2024 and 2026, respectively.

If the WMNF does a “regular timber sale,” a minimal amount of money goes to the U.S. Treasury, then the bulk gets used to do projects on the forest, but 25% goes toward schools and roads in the town in which the sale takes place.

If the WMNF does a “stewardship sale,” the WMNF keeps the money for various improvements around the forest, mainly water quality improvements such as trail and road work.

“For example, we just transferred $75,000 dollars to the Wonalancet Outdoor Club to do trail work,” added Innes.

“We don’t want to do all stewardship sales, because then the town’s not going to get any money,” said Alimi. “But we don’t want to do all regular sales, because we have a lot of backlog of work that we can use the stewardship money to accomplish projects.”

“We have projects that generate money and projects that cost money. In this instance, we are using timber sale revenue to fund trail and road work” said Innes.

WMNF Forester Arianna McGlynn said tree thinning allows for more sunlight and growing space for a diversity of tree species and tree ages. The WMNF wants a mix of young trees and older trees.

“We’re selecting certain trees that meet certain characteristics, to retain or to cut, because we want in the future, a healthier, more diverse, and more variable age stand,” said McGlynn. “Every species serves a different purpose with wildlife and within the ecosystem itself.”

Alimi added in group cuts of up to 2 acres, the WMNF will be reducing the number of beech trees to make room for maple and yellow birch. He said forestry techniques they use are from long-term research on the experimental forest in Bartlett.

“We’re very fortunate, because the research done there is mostly on Northern hardwoods,” said Alimi. “We’ve got a track record of seeing what results we get from these types of treatments where we live in certain conditions at certain times of the year.”

Group cuts will be at least 33 feet away from trails and logging slash will be removed 50 feet from roads, trails and private property boundaries.

“So visually, you’re not seeing piles of slash,” said Innes.

One attendee said she was concerned about aesthetics and noted a forestry project on Mount. Katherine “looked like crap.”

Innes replied that the Mount Katherine job must have been privately done and had nothing to do with the WMNF.

“Any forestry you’ve seen around here recently has not been us,” said Innes, adding the WMNF hasn’t done a timber harvest in that area for decades.

Saco District Biologist Jessie Dubuque said the WMNF is held to a high standard by the National Forest Management Act.

“State land and private land aren’t held to a higher standard for aesthetics, for water quality, for erosion, those sorts of things,” said Dubuque.

There were also concerns about the bridge on Spring Brook Road. Alimi said that if the Forest Service determines the bridge cannot support a logging truck, a temporary bridge would be placed over the wooden bridge.

“We do this quite a bit,” said Innes about temporary bridges.

Areas that are harvested have to be growing trees again within five years, according to federal law.

In clear-cut areas of up to 30 acres at most, the WMNF is hoping to regenerate sugar maple, red maple, yellow birch, paper birch.

The main purpose of the controlled burn is to clear diseased beech trees that “shade out” other species like red oak. Without competition from the small beech trees, the red oaks will be able to flourish and grow after the burns.

Asked if trails would be closed while the project is underway, Innes said that would be determined on “a case by case basis.”

Until Oct. 24, the public is welcome to comment on the Sandwich Project. To comment, go to tinyurl.com/ry66uda3.

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