This photo depicts the Mt. Adams Cougar Creek Fire, as viewed from the Glenwood Valley, growing rapidly on Aug. 11, 2015. The Friends of Mount Adams organization (FOMA) is presenting a free public forum, “Mt. Adams Cougar Creek Burn: The Future,” on Friday, Dec. 11, from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Columbia High School Library, 1455 NW Bruin Country Rd., in White Salmon.
This photo depicts the Mt. Adams Cougar Creek Fire, as viewed from the Glenwood Valley, growing rapidly on Aug. 11, 2015. The Friends of Mount Adams organization (FOMA) is presenting a free public forum, “Mt. Adams Cougar Creek Burn: The Future,” on Friday, Dec. 11, from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Columbia High School Library, 1455 NW Bruin Country Rd., in White Salmon.
The Friends of Mt. Adams will be hosting a free public forum Friday, Dec. 11, from 7 to 9 p.m., at Columbia High School’s library to discuss the future of communities and burned forest areas as a result of the 2015 Cougar Creek Fire. The fire burned almost 54,000 acres from Aug. 10 to Sept. 15, and was caused by lightning.
Darryl Lloyd, Friends of Mt Adams conservation chair, will provide a topographical review of the fire during the forum. Representatives from Yakama Nation, U. S. Forest Service, the state Department of Natural Resources, and Mt. Adams Resource Stewards will panel the forum. Lloyd hopes to cultivate a discussion about the salvage proposal being considered by the Forest Service.
“We’ll look at a geographic overview of the whole burn,” said Lloyd, “I’m only going to have ten minutes so it will be a lot briefer than what I’d like to do. I hope people will be interested in the salvage proposal and whether geology is being considered.”
The Forest Service and its Mt. Adams Ranger District are working to create a proposal for salvage logging the approximately 250 acres burned in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest by the Cougar Creek Fire.
The majority of the burn was contained to Yakama Nation land, the current proposal applies strictly to the National Forest System (NFS) lands such as the Gifford Pinchot Nation Forest. A letter was released Nov. 23, 2015 asking partners, stakeholders and interested parties to send scoping comments to help inform the district ranger of any concerns or questions regarding the proposal.
“I understand that the Yakama Nation is going to salvage their areas, a third of which they plan to replant and salvage,” explained Lloyd.
During the Dec. 11 forum Lloyd will walk attendees through the burn pattern of the fire through aerial photos he took during fly-overs of the affected areas. Of the 53,534 acres within the fire perimeter, 77% of land burned belongs to the Yakama Nation, 11% to Gifford Pinchot, 8% to DNR, and 4% private land.
“It looks like half of the burn area was stand replacement fire — a lot of low burn — especially in the south east corner which is private land and DNR [Department of Natural Resources] — and so the big trees survived in those areas” said Lloyd. “It’s misleading to think 53,000 acres burned when it was much less than that. That’s going to be part of the pictures that I’ll try to show.”
Lloyd explained that one of the things he hopes to illustrate through his aerial photos is the patchiness of the burn, “the burn was very much of a patch-work with all different severities, so there’s a lot of green all through the burn. I think recovery is going to be a lot faster because of natural reseeding.”
“I flew over just about the whole area so I’ll give representative area photos of all the different parts of the burn, especially recreational areas,” noted Lloyd. “It’s a big, big area.”
The National Forest portion burned near the west end of the Aiken Lava flow was the third time the area re-burned, first in 2008 then 2012, and now in 2015.
“I think the future is a big thing here, there’s going to be experts there to help answer questions,” explained Lloyd. “I hope the experts will have a chance to speak about restoration. I’m looking forward to hearing plans.”
To send comments or questions regarding the proposed salvage of the 250 acres within the Gifford Pinchot Nation Forest, contact Ben Hoppus at bhoppus@fs.fed.us or 509-395-3405. Mosé Jones-Yellin, Mt. Adams District Ranger, will also be taking comments; to reach him call 509-395-3400. Comments and questions will be accepted until Dec. 20.
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