| | The goal of the Boaz project was to enhance forest health and provide regional employment through a collaborative project to remove and process small-diameter material. The project was located in Jackson County, Oregon, on the high-divide ridges in the Boaz and Neds Gulch drainages of the Applegate River Watershed, and the Yale Creek drainage of the Little Applegate River Watershed. The forests were dry, steep, Douglas-fir dominated stands with shallow soil and westerly to southerly aspect. Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, sugar pine, incense cedar, madrone, and white and black oak were the major tree species in the stand. The understory consisted of whiteleaf manzanita, deerbrush ceanothus, creambrush oceanspray, and serviceberry.
The project started in 2002 and focused initially on building community support. A broad range of groups from the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center to the Southern Oregon Timber Industry Associates supported the project, demonstrating the shared interest as well as outreach efforts by the contractor and the BLM. Over 300 people visited the site as part of the project's efforts to garner public support for forest health treatments, explain and guide the project, and utilize project findings to help shape agency stewardship and contracting planning. The project was delayed for nearly a year because of administrative issues and regulatory concerns about the Siskiyou salamander, but these were laid to rest and the project was completed in January of 2007.
The project aimed to restore overstocked, fire suppressed, small-diameter Douglas-fir stands and release individual suppressed ponderosa pine. Fire-return interval estimates suggest that the stands had missed five fire cycles. The majority of the harvest areas were homogeneous conifer stands that had over 160 square feet of basal area per acre. There were a fair number of young, healthy stands (50 to 100 years of age) that were scattered among the more decadent 120- to 170-year-old stands. Thinning was designed to keep these younger stands vigorous and growing in height and diameter by reducing the number of trees per acre from over 500 to 135, and by raising stand average DBH from 8.6 inches to 11.4 inches. The harvest decreased canopy closure from 80–100% to 50–60%, reduced crown fire risk, and encouraged the development of old-growth structure. There were no severely infected Douglas-fir dwarf mistletoe stands; just minor sprinklings of infected trees, most of which were cut. The harvest removed trees down to 4 inches diameter with hand felling, ground-based skidding, yarding, skid to landing, landing sort (loader and skidder), on-site chipping (roll-off system), on-site milling (portable chipping head), and self-loader transport. The contractor removed timber, hog fuel, poles, posts, firewood, and blanks for flooring and panelling. Thirty-eight tons of logs per acre at an average price of $79 per ton were removed, in addition to 14 tons per acre of woody biomass at an average price of $29 per ton.
In addition to ecological objectives, the project was designed to test the technical and economic feasibility of small-diameter harvests in the area, monitor forest health and fire hazard reduction, determine market opportunities for small-diameter material, expand the capacity of the rural work force, and improve community/agency relations. Funding for the Jackson County Title II Project came courtesy of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act at the direction of the Medford District Resource Advisory Committee.
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| | | | 2 | Land Ownership
Bureau of Land Management
| | | | 3 | Location
Jackson County, Oregon | | | 4 | Forest Type
Douglas-fir; Mixed conifer
| | | | Context |  | | | 5 | Is this project a part of a landscape plan?
Yes
| | | | 6 | In a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI)?
Yes
| | | | 7 | Acreage treated
47 ac
| | | | 8 | Type of contract
Timber sale
| | | | 9 | Funding source
Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act; Jackson County Title II Project; Medford District Resource Advisory Committee
| | | | 10 | Collaborators and partners
Jefferson Sustainable Development Initiative
| | | | 11 | Project start date
Mar. 2002
| | | 12 | Project completion date
Jan. 2007
| | | | Treatment Goals | | | | 13 | Restoration, watershed or habitat improvement
| | | | 14 | Reduce fuel load
| | | | 15 |
| | | | 16 |
| | | 17 | Forest Stand Improvement
| | | | Treatment Specifics | | | | 18 | Primary treatment objective
Reduce number of trees, keep healthiest trees, remove biomass down to 4 inches dbh
| | | | 19 | How does biomass removal fit with other objectives?
Testing market and systems viability for biomass removal was integral to project design. Removal of biomass was considered consistent with overall forest health and stand improvement goals.
| | | | 20 | Treatment description
Restoring vigor, resilience and stability through fuels reduction, restoration thinning and density management.
| | | | 21 | Description of contractors
Primary contractor individual in partnership with NGO, other contractors NGO staff or local workforce.
| | | | 22 | Travel distance for contractors
Several out-of-town but in-region
| | | | 23 | Type of equipment used
Hand felling, ground-based skidding, yarding, skid to landing, landing sort (loader and skidder), on-site chipping (roll-off system), on-site milling (portable chipping head), self-loader transport.
| | | | 24 | Treatment of residual slash if any
Most removed, clean-up landing piles burned by BLM.
| | | | 25 | Treatment cost per acre
$350/acre with utilization
| | | 26 | Trucking costs
$18/ton
| | | | Utilization | | | | 27 | Products from project
Sawtimber, hog fuel, poles, posts, firewood, and blanks for flooring, paneling and shop.
| | | | 28 | Price for products
Average log price $89/ton; average ton-wood price $29/ton
| | | | 29 | Date of Sale
2004-2006
| | | | 30 | Did biomass markets exist previous to project?
Yes
| | | | 31 | Type of utilization
Hog fuel, firewood, post and pole
| | | | 32 | How well did the woody biomass match the utilization options?
Matched at given range of options
| | | 33 | Distance to utilization
40 miles
| | | | Treatment guidelines, targets, limitations | | | | 34 | Diameter limit
16 inches, except in thinning around mature pine and in yarding corridors when necessary
| | | | 35 | Basal area reduction
Thin to 120
| | | | 36 | Crown coverage
To 50-60%
| | | | 37 | Fuel loading
14 tons per acre removed
| | | | 38 | Retention guidelines
15-30 foot spacing, healthy trees
| | | | 39 | Treatment of snags and downed logs
Leave except for hazards
| | | | 40 | Soil impacts
Minimized by yarding and use of existing skid trails
| | | 41 | Other ecological impacts monitored
| | | | Pre Treatment | | | | 42 | Fuel load
| | | | 43 | Stem density (stems/ac)
556 | | | | 44 | Basal area (ft2/ac)
| | | | 45 | Canopy closure (%)
80-100%
| | | | 46 | Height to live crown base
| | | | 47 | Snags and downed woody material
| | | | 48 | Size class distribution
52% < 8” dbh; 36% 8-12” dbh; 8% 12-16” dbh
| | | | 49 | Tree species composition
95% Douglas-fir; 4% ponderosa pine; 1% incense cedar
| | | | 50 | Presence/absence of invasive species
Bull thistle and yellow star thistle present
| | | 51 | Soil and other ecological data
Erosion risk without best management practices
| | | | Post Treatment | | | | 52 | Fuel load
14 tons per acre removed
| | | | 53 | Stem density (stems/ac)
| | | | 54 | Basal area (ft2/ac)
| | | | 55 | Canopy closure (%)
| | | | 56 | Height to live crown base
| | | | 57 | Snags and downed woody material
| | | | 58 | Size class distribution
| | | | 59 | Tree species composition
| | | | 60 | Presence/absence of invasive species
| | | | 61 | Soil and other ecological data
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