Arkansas Mountain Stewardship Project

 

1. Name - Arkansas Mountain Stewardship Project

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In 2005, the Royal Gorge Field Office (RGFO) was approved as a BLM National Biomass Demonstration Site. Through the Arkansas Mountain Stewardship Contract, RGFO was able to improve forest health, reduce fuels and risk of crown fire, encourage biomass utilization, improve wildlife habitat, and provide wood to the local forest industry. The project supplied the Aquila Power Plant in Canon City, Colorado, which generates 42 MW of electricity with a combination of coal and wood.

The project focused on mixed conifer forests along the Colorado Front Range, which have become uncharacteristically dense as a result of fire suppression, grazing, and past timber harvests that concentrated on removing the larger trees. As with many forests in the area, the stands were well outside of historic fire intervals and laden with heavy fuel loads. Such conditions have led to some of the most destructive wildfires and largest bark beetle outbreaks since the settlement of Colorado. Failure to treat these overstocked forests may have destructive impacts on the forests, watersheds, and surrounding communities.

The silvicultural prescription for the Arkansas Mountain Stewardship Project was designed to move forest conditions toward lower density stand structures and retain the largest healthy trees. After the treatment, stand structures appeared more open and trees were more clumped and patchy. The timber harvest maintained all size classes to encourage an uneven-aged structure. The contractor used a hydro-axe with felling head, skidder, chipper, and chip vans to move the biomass from stump to plant. The treatment removed up to 2000 stems acre and reduced the basal area by about 70%. The fuel loading was reduced from 11 to 5 tons acre and canopy closure was reduced to about 25%. The treatment generated approximately 16 tons of woodchips per acre and 46 MBF of sawtimber. Prescribed burning will reduce natural and activity fuels, help re-establish a more frequent fire interval, and provide a nutrient flush to residual vegetation.

The RGFO accomplished the project through stewardship contracts. Under a stewardship contract, the value of vegetative material can be applied to offset the cost of services received. The service cost for these stewardship contracts was approximately $1,000 per acre and biomass removal accounted for about $800 of that cost. These contracts included additional activities such as meadow restoration, gate installation, and road maintenance and improvement. Service costs for the stewardship contracts were higher than expected but costs are expected to drop in the future as the local forest industry and Aqulia become more accustomed to utilizing biomass. The RGFO is planning to utilize several thousand tons of forest biomass each year over the next five years.

As fuels and stand densities are reduced on public lands, wildfire intensity and severity will be lessened, resulting in lower wildfire suppression costs. Air emissions will also be improved by eliminating the need for on-site slash-pile burning. Also woodchips utilized at the Power Plant will emit fewer harmful chemicals when compared to coal. In addition, the projects meet many of the goals of the National Fire Plan and Cohesive Strategy, the Healthy Forests Initiative, and the Healthy Forests Restoration Act.




Aquila Power Plant and biomass from BLM project.

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