Officials with the Bureau of Land Management are preparing an environmental assessment as part of a plan to salvage timber burned last summer in a wildfire in west-central Idaho.
BLM officials want to log about 10 million board feet on 940 acres in the John Day drainage burned in the 75-square-mile fire near the town of Lucile, The Lewiston Tribune reported.
Agency spokesman Robin Boyce said the agency is taking public comments and hopes to finish the assessment so the timber can be offered for sale by February.
Besides forestland managed by the BLM, the fire also burned forest managed by the Idaho Department of Lands and the U.S. Forest Service. The area includes ponderosa pine trees that are susceptible to blue staining caused by beetles. Officials say blue staining doesn’t harm the wood but some buyers won’t use it, fearing rot, so the timber should be salvaged quickly before beetles arrive.
From The Idaho Statesman: https://www.idahostatesman.com/2012/11/23/2356955/timber-salvage-planned-following.html