USFS sacrificing conifers for aspens draws ire of residents near Truckee
By Tom Knudson, Sacramento Bee
Like a steeple, the Jeffrey pine towers over other conifers and quaking aspen in the Tahoe National Forest north of Truckee.
Nearly 13 feet around at its base and believed to be about 250 to 300 years old, it has weathered every threat to come its way, including wildfire, drought, storms and logging.
Now it is slated to fall to a modern force: environmental restoration.
As part of a Forest Service effort to return Sierra forests to their pre-settlement glory, this tree is one of many conifers – large and small – the agency has designated for logging to help aspen, which its research shows is in danger.
“We need to be doing everything we can to help promote and foster these aspen stands,” said Quentin Youngblood, the Sierraville district ranger for the Tahoe National Forest. “And quite frankly, there are some tough choices.”
But as trees crash to the ground this summer, anger is growing among environmentalists and area residents who say the effort is heavy-handed and environmentally risky.
“I think they are going to destroy more than they are going to restore,” said Tom Leavell, a rancher whose cattle graze on Forest Service land in the logging zone. “Nature put everything together for a reason. As soon as we go in messing with it, something else happens.”
The project is part of a wider pattern. No longer is agency logging just about timber production. Now, it’s often aimed at healing past mistakes and restoring nature’s bounty.
Playing God with nature is often fraught with risk, of course. But what also makes some scientists uneasy about the Tahoe project is that the Forest Service is logging one cherished Sierra icon to help another.
Cutting 300 year old trees to help aspens survive? Once again the forest service has its head up its a….
The aspen is a weed and nothing more.
This ruling is out of TRPA and dates back the late 1990’s when the 30″ DBH cutting restriction came into existance.
All of this was spear headed by the Sierra Club and The Legue to Save L.T.
all in the name of restricting logging and saving old growth.
Aspen will not burn as easily as conifers and they are a draw for tourism with the fall colors.
Their life span is short compared to conifers. All in all, this is a bad law and doubt anyone can turn it around.
I agree with “horsetails” – we planted 3 aspen in our yard and if we don’t mow the lawn for 2 weeks we have a forest of aspen sprouts. The USFS may have research that shows they don’t burn as easily – they certainly come back fast with that underground root structure – but the USFS is fraught with mistakes – a policy of putting out all forest fires for decades has contributed to these wildfires with corresponding underbrush. I hope they reconsider.