Blacktail Fuels and Salvage Reduction Project

What's proposed

Hazardous fuels reduction for the Blacktail area will include removal of salvageable harvest dead, insect- or disease infested, wind-throw susceptible, or otherwise hazardous trees. Methods for treatments include mechanical, salvage harvest, hand-cutting, and prescribed burning. Within the treatment unit, mixed conifer stands comprised of subalpine fir and Engelmann Spruce, exhibiting little disease or mortality, would be excluded from harvest. Open areas, and healthy aspen stands, would be excluded as well. Harvest and cut and pile would be focused on primarily lodgepole pine stands effected by MPB. Commercial sale(s) would most likely be implemented with conventional, ground-based logging equipment and/or hand-felling with chainsaws. Commercial sale(s) would include the harvest of all live and dead lodgepole pine that are 5” diameter at breast height (DBH) or greater to facilitate reduction of ladder fuels and stand density. Service contracts, vegetation treatment contracts, BLM crew, etc., may be used to treat dead and otherwise hazardous trees in areas within treatment units where commercial harvest would not be feasible or economically feasible. Aspen, conifer species other than lodgepole pine may be cut if they are dead, dying, diseased, or damaged. Live trees that would likely wind-throw if left standing after harvest would be cut as well (mostly individual, large subalpine fir and/or Engelmann spruce, 9” DBH or greater). During harvest operations, aspen, lodgepole pine trees that are 4” DBH or less, and other conifer species that are 8” DBH or less would be retained unless removal is necessary to provide for safety or to facilitate harvest operations. Salvage harvest would consist of approximately 400 acres in the north portion of the treatment area. Slash material remaining after harvest operations will be piled for later burning by the BLM. Approximately 110 acres of fuels reduction would be treated by hand-cut and pile, and prescribed burns. Chainsaws would be used in felling, bucking, and limbing operations from service contracts, vegetation contracts, BLM crews, etc., to cut and pile dead standing, down, and otherwise hazardous trees on the south end of the unit. Hand piles will be built to a minimum of 10’x10’x10’, and placed, when feasible, in open areas to reduce impact of fire on standing live trees. Piles will be burnt later following the Kremmling Activity Pile Burn Plan. Smoke permits would be obtained from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, prior to burning. The BLM will also monitor post-treatment for noxious weeds for two growing seasons after project completion. If noxious weed control is found necessary, actions would be coordinated by the BLM.

Participation periods

Contacts

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Milestones

BLM published no dated milestones for this project.

Documents

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