‘It looks like a bomb went off:’ Frisco deals with dying forest

FRISCO — After cutting about 6,000 trees on the Frisco Peninsula earlier this summer, assistant public works director Rick Higgins said his town is just getting started on dealing with the mountain pine beetle epidemic in the area.

“It’s really exploded on us,” Higgins said, walking among cut stumps and piles of slash near Crown Point Road. “It looks like a bomb went off here,” he said, describing an area that was essentially clear-cut. “Unfortunately, we’re getting in the game kind of late. I think we’re going to see mortality rates of 90 to 95 percent.”

But in the middle of the rough-looking landscape are clumps of smaller lodgepole pines and stands of aspen that may spread now that they’re not shaded and crowded by evergreens, and even the occasional spruce and fir tree. For Higgins, those remnants of vegetation are a hopeful sign that this forest will eventually recover from the beetle attack and the subsequent logging, and he said that, working with forestry consultants, Frisco will do what it can to help with the regeneration. Some areas may even be replanted with various species, he said.

“I know it seems like addressing the beetle, but we trying to focus on forest health,” Higgins said. “We’re trying to protect these smaller tree islands, and we’re looking at the under story and regeneration.”

“We’ll monitor the areas and see where there is natural regeneration. If nothing is happening, we’ll look at replanting,” he said.

Much of the town’s approach for the area will be based on adaptive management, trying to adjust to the volatile forest conditions. That means keeping a close eye on the forest and adapting treatments to the conditions. For example, if an area slated for thinning shows a higher-than-expected mortality rate, a clear-cut might be more appropriate, Higgins explained.

The town spent about $63,000 to fell and remove beetle-infested dead and dying trees this summer from about 40 acres, and the work is far from done. Another $20,000 to $25,000 is slated for cleanup work, including chipping, and possibly burning some of the leftover slash. Higgins said there are 120 acres remaining that require treatment, and plans on spending about $100,000 next year to continue the work. Pocius said it took 36 truckloads, each carrying about 155 trees, to transport the logs to a sawmill in Gunnison. The town received a credit back from the logging company in the amount of about $3,500, he said.

That equation highlights the economic challenges faced by all local communities, as well as the Forest Service. In most cases, the value of the timber is not nearly high enough to cover the cost of removing it.

New trails?

Long-term planning for the area will also include a re-evaluation of the trail system on the Peninsula.

“We’re going to work with the Daytons and take a look,” Higgins said, explaining that the existing trails often followed old logging roads, “along the path of least resistance.” He said the beetle epidemic and the treatments could offer an opportunity to reconfigure some trails. And, trying to find a bright spot, Higgins said the clear-cutting has opened up some spectacular new view corridors.

“Maybe we can get into some more up and down,” he said, adding that solar gain and wind in some of the newly exposed areas will have to figure in to the planning.
Despite the strong rains, Higgins said he’s pleased with erosion control efforts after the logging and hasn’t seen any major impacts.

Some of the timber that’s left may also become a source of firewood for locals.
“We’ve had people calling about it and we’re trying to figure out the best way to handle it,” he said.

“This isn’t real pretty right now, but hopefully, over the years, as we work the area, it will come back. I’m kind of a get-in, get-it-done and get-out kind of guy. Every time you back into an area you have new impacts,” he concluded.

<i>Bob Berwyn can be reached at (970) 331-5996, or at bberwyn@summitdaily.com.</i>