Local timber industry to benefit from wildfire program

A wildfire prevention program in California is set to bolster the timber supply here in Crook County, according to an announcement made by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) last week.

Through this program, Neiman Sawmills is expected to receive surplus fire salvage logs from areas with too much wood and not enough of a market for it.

“We’re honored to be a partner with the Forest Service and NWTF on this pilot project,” said Jim Neiman, President of the family-owned forest management company with operations across the west.

“Collectively, we’re helping to create resilient forests and stable economies around rural and underserved communities across the nation.”

The timber transit pilot project is part of a 20-year forest steward partnership agreement between USFS and the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF). It will see excess timber brought from the Klamath National Forest in Northern California to the mill near Hulett.

“Salvage timber that would otherwise increase the potential for more wildfires will be harvested and removed from California,” said Bryan Karchut, acting forest supervisor for the Black Hills National Forest.

“The Black Hills forest products industry, one of our key partners in maintaining forest health and resilience, will have a steady supply of timber to continue their mill operation. It is a win-win situation for everyone.”  

The Forest Service has dedicated $50 million dollars to the 20-year agreement with NWTF to address critical ecological challenges facing the nation’s forests and grasslands face. Funding for the timber transit project was meanwhile made

available by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. 

The Klamath National Forest was chosen because it has been the site of multiple catastrophic wildfires recently, including the McKinney Fire in 2022 that caused four fatalities and consumed over 50,000 acres in less than 36 hours, causing ecological ruin to parts of the forest that was then worsened by subsequent flooding events and debris flows. The Antelope fire the year before burned 145,632 acres with reported flame lengths over 100 feet.

Planned projects within the partnership agreement include harvesting and hauling hazardous fuels and timber.

According to a statement from NWTF, a portion of the timber removed will be transported by railcar to Hulett to bolster an important economic driver in the Black Hills region. In previous years, moving timber by railcar was considered an outdated method and unprofitable for companies seeking to create forest products.

However, according to the statement, in this case the “immense ecological value” of reducing wildfire risk, carbon optimization, watershed health, wildlife habitat improvement and more means that it has the potential to set a precedent for getting fuels out of the forest and “transformed into carbon-storing forest products”.

“We are excited to reinvigorate this model of transporting fuels to be turned into forest products. Our partners are excited to showcase this as a proof of concept that will set the stage for more critical work to follow,” said Tom Spezze, NWTF national director of field conservation and state policy.

“…We are also very excited to help lead an effort of stepping back in history to move forward in time by transporting wildfire fuels from oversupplied areas of the west by railcar to forest product mills in underserved parts of the country. The wildfire crisis is a national crisis and NWTF wants to be part of the solution.”

The stewardship agreement will also include an array of additional forest management practices, such as shrub mowing, juniper mastication and plantation thinning. Additional projects are expected to coalesce in the coming months.

Data from the project will help determine the long-term viability of transporting timber in support of the ten-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy. The USFS announced this plan just over a year ago to address the fact that wildfires in the West have been growing in size and severity.

The USFS attributes the growing wildfire risk to past fire exclusion and accumulating fuels, a warming climate and expanding development. Calling it a national emergency that demands decisive action, the USFS released a ten-year strategy to reduce the risk while sustaining and restoring “healthy, resilient fire-adapted forests”.

The plan aims to treat up to an additional 20 million acres on the National Forest System in the West and an additional 30 million acres on other federal, state, tribal and private lands.

When the strategy was announced, the NWTF began to look at areas where it could assist. This culminated in the 20-year national master stewardship agreement signed in October, through which it intends to develop regional projects to protect communities, reduce wildfire risk and improve forest health, wildlife habitat and water quality.

“We are glad to be part of this innovative project because we understand that a successful Wildfire Crisis Strategy is dependent on a healthy forest products industry,” said Regional Forester Frank Beum of the timber transport pilot project’s contribution to the wildfire strategy.

“This is as mutually beneficial to the Forest Service and industry, as it is to the local communities and natural resources in the entire Black Hills region. We are proud to partner with NWTF and industry in identifying creative solutions for increasing the pace and scale of forest restoration while exploring new markets.”