In the Summer of 2001, a crew cleared dead trees in parts of Bicentennial Park. The clearing was part of a fire mitigation effort in response to the spruce bark beetle epidemic.
There has been some debate over the logging. Some feel it is inconsistent with the wild nature of the park. There is some concern that trails are damaged by the logging. The money spent clearing dead trees along the Spencer Loop may inadvertently help Hilltop's expansion by lowering their costs of clearing that land in the next few years.
The presentation here is incomplete. You should get more information by following the links in the "Sources for more information" section. BLM has also done some clearing in the Campbell Tract.
What is being Logged?
Logging in the Park is primarily at places where people most commonly access the Park. These locations are at the most risk. Logging has been done along the Spencer Loop and along the tank trails. The BLM is also logging live and dead trees in the Campbell Tract to prevent forest fires.
The following note is from Sue Rodman, the firefighter leading the effort to clear dead spruce in Anchorage. It explains the events that lead to clearing dead trees along the Spencer Loop. Her note is followed by the "Prescription" written for the project.
Ms. Rodman said that $15,000 was spent removing trees from along the Spencer Loop and another $5,000 was spent restoring the Spencer Loop by fixing ruts, drainage and putting the crown back on the trails.
September 5, 2001
> The fire mitigation work in the Spencer Loop area was instigated by a
> concerned citizen: Larry Vanderlinden. He was upset that the trees that had
> been felled in this part of the park were creating a fire hazard. These
> trees were felled by the NSAA (Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage)
> over the last few winters as they presented a
> safety hazard to the trail and its users. The limbs were left on the trees
> and did in fact create a fire hazard.> We, the Anchorage Wildfire Partnership, had no intention to do any mitigation work
> in this section of the park (FNBC). However, Mr. Vanderlinden expressed his concerns to the
> Alaska Division of Forestry whereas, they phoned me requesting some type of
> mitigation work to clean up the fire hazard brought about by the NSAA.
> Therefore, we brought in a contractor, at our expense, to clean up this
> hazard. To your benefit, the trail is being reconstructed so that users of
> the Spencer Loop may enjoy an improved trail after our work is complete. I
> hope that this clarifies any misconceptions that are obvious in your website
> phrases. Please call me if you would like to discuss this further. Please
> make the appropriate correction on your website soon.
>
> Thank you,
> Sue Rodman
>
> Sue Rodman, Forester
> Anchorage Fire Department
> phone 907/267-4902
> pager 907/762-0767
> mobile 907/441-0985
> fax 907/267-4920
July 17, 2001 DRAFT Site Prescription for Fire Mitigation SPENCER LOOP Location: Far North Bicentennial Park - Hilltop Ski Area: Spencer Loop Area description: From the north end of the Hilltop Ski Area Parking Lot, extending a line northeast and north along the South Gasline Trail to the intersection with Rover’s Run Trail, mitigation work will take place on the two eastern loops of the Spencer Loop and the easternmost extension of Rover’s Run Trail. Acres treated: Along the trail covering approximately 700 acres Trails affected: Spencer Loop and eastern extension of Rover’s Run Trail. Start Date: July 10, 2001 Cutting, Skidding & Hauling: continuous during July 10 - August 21, 2001 Pruning window: August 15 - October 15, 2001 Objective: To reduce the risk of wildfire ignition and spread through a portion of Far North Bicentennial Park in the vicinity of the Spencer Loop by removing previously felled trees and additional dead and dying spruce trees along the trail. Dying trees are defined as being severely attacked by the spruce bark beetle and unable to recover. Site description: Far North Bicentennial Park is situated along the eastern foothills of the Chugach Mountains. In the Spencer Loop area, the vegetation consists primarily of mixed hardwood stands with a significant component of dead and dying spruce trees. The majority of spruce in this area are dead or dying from primary attack from the spruce bark beetle. Other agents such as red belt root disease (Fomes pinicola) are common. In mitigating the risk for trees falling on the trails, the Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage felled dead trees in this area during the winter of 2000-2001. These trees need to be removed as they contribute to the risk of wildfire and also serve as an attractant for mature beetle. This type of host site merely propagates the beetle population, thereby promoting the continuation of the infestation. Protection assessment: Risk - the potential to ignite. Common trail uses such as running, biking and walking do not pose high risk for ignition of these forest stands. However, unmonitored behavior may be the cause for fire ignition. Considering the park use and the proximity to the Prospect Heights and other adjacent subdivisions, the risk rating for this site is Moderate. Hazard - the potential to burn with regard to fuels and topography. This area is located on variable slopes with some intermittent benches. The dead spruce exists throughout this stand and is highly susceptible to windthrow. This stand is "unraveling", meaning that some dead trees are still standing while others are partially fallen or completely fallen. Where trees have begun to fall over and get hung up in other standing trees, the ladder fuel effect is greatly increased. All of these trees have a tendency to retain their branches for several years after death, thereby contributing to the ladder fuel effect and potentially leading to a rapidly spreading crown fire. The hazard rating for this site is High. Value - the potential for loss. This trail system has mostly natural characteristics and has profound value to the residents. The area is widely used all year by a variety of recreational users both on and off of the trail system: runners, walkers, bikers, orienteering groups, and others. This area is also habitat to moose, bear, fish, songbirds, raptors, and many other species that take refuge here. There is also significant potential for a fire in this area to spread into adjacent residential neighborhoods. The loss of life and property contributes to the value of protecting this site. The value for this site is High. Compliance with the Alaska Forest Resources and Practices Act: 11 AAC 95.195 Clearing of spruce trees: Activities conducted under this site prescription are designated to minimize the spread of destructive forest insects (spruce bark beetle, Dendroctonus rufipennis, Kirby) and reduce the risk of wildfire. Species to be cleared include white, lutz, black and possibly sitka spruce (Picea glauca,Picea glauca var. lutzii,Picea mariana and Picea sitchensis). Spruce logs that are merchantable for cants, lumber, or houselogs will be skidded from the woods to the parking lot. Certain logs may also be used for chips. Spruce limbs less than 2 inches in diameter will be lopped and scattered in the woods where appropriate; larger limbs will be hauled to the parking lot for further disposal. 11 AAC 95.260 Riparian standards. To protect surface water quality from potential adverse effects, a 100 foot buffer will be designated around streams and wetlands inside the cutting units. Site Prescription This site contains many ladder fuels that could lead to a crown fire. Remove dead/dying trees. Cut off high stumps of previously felled trees. Fell additional trees within 50 feet of both sides of the trail that are dead and dying. Skid trees and limbs off of the trail system. Loop and scatter limbs in the woods: not to exceed 30 inches high. Scattering will reduce the ladder fuel effect of the limbs. Decomposition of limbs is rapid and nutrients are returned to the soil by using this method. Hot deck as appropriate. Close affected trails with flagging and/or signage to indicate tree falling during work hours. Cutting and skidding will be conducted during weekdays only (Monday through Friday). Trails will be free and clear of logs and large pieces of wood material after work each day. All affected trails will be opened at the end of each work day. Regeneration assessment will be done after the dead trees are removed. If regeneration is not sufficient, seedlings will be planted in forest openings. For more information: Sue Rodman, Forester Anchorage Fire Department |
Anchorage Wildfire project, public information
meeting on September 18th in the Assembly Chambers
at the Loussac Library. We will host an open house beginning at 5:00 pm with
displays, maps, and various other information. At 6:00 pm, a presentation will provide
a background and current activities on the project. After this,
people may pose questions and comments.
A letter to
the editor can inform lots of people. Write one! They prefer 250
words or less. Be sure to say clearly "No ballfields in
Bicentennial Park!" email your letter to:
The Anchorage Daily News at letters@adn.com
The Eagle River Star editor@alaskastar.com
Anchorage Municipal Assembly Members. For email
addresses go to our Contacts page.
Send email
to everyone you know and ask them to look at this site.
Following are copies of articles and opinion pieces in the Anchorage Daily News that relate to the loggin issue.
Loop logged
Trees
topple in city's war against wildfires
By
Peter Porco
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: August 13, 2001)
The Spencer Loop, one of Anchorage's premier park trails, is being logged, the latest battleground in the city's war against potential wildfires.
And this is just the beginning, city and federal land managers said.
In the past four weeks, next to Hilltop Ski Area, more than 40 percent of the loop has been cleared of beetle-killed spruce trees to 50 feet on both sides of the trail.
The logging is "low impact," as these things go, said Sue Rodman, an Anchorage Fire Department forester and a project manager. A contractor is removing only dead or dying trees, ones that would fall to the ground in a few years anyway.
But the trees are large and the equipment is heavy, and the project's effect on the park is striking. The trail's dirt bed has been loosened by machinery and log dragging. Piles of lopped-off branches clutter the sides and cover the understory vegetation. And some living trees have been bruised or, in the case of smaller ones, crushed by the crashing of dead ones.
"It seems like this is too much," Pixie Siebe, a longtime parks advocate, said last week during a walk on the Spencer Loop. "I'm just amazed at how different this looks."
Fresh clearings mark the trailsides, and a small road has been opened along the boundary between the Spencer Loop and the ski area south of it. The area looks like a subdivision is going in.
"It will be a long time before it's just a trail through the woods again," Siebe said.
City officials disagree.
"Next spring it will be pretty and green and you won't even know we've been in here," Rodman said. "I run in here two or three times a week. I bike in here, and I ski in here. This is just as important to me. I'll find a way to make this trail nice again."
The disturbance is concentrated in the southern portion of the Spencer Loop and is scheduled to continue over the next few weeks in the northern part, along roughly 4.5 miles of trail.
The southern loop is expected to disappear someday anyway when Hilltop expands its downhill ski area, said Jerry Walton, acting manager of the city's Division of Sports and Recreation.
Rodman stressed that the cutting has nothing to do with the potential Hilltop expansion.
"We stated to (the resort's managers): I'm not doing this to help you guys out. This is only a fire-mitigation project,' " she said.
The Spencer Loop project will cost $15,000, Rodman said. It is one of several projects in the city's Firewise program to reduce the amount of forest fuel that could spread wildfires near Hillside subdivisions.
Most prominent is the culling of spruce trees that have been killed or mortally injured by the decade-long infestation of spruce bark beetles.
Spruce trees are being cut from a mile-long, 800-foot-wide strip on the southeast corner of the city's Far North Bicentennial Park -- just south of Hilltop -- and in the city's Little Rabbit Creek Bluff Park, a triangle overlooking Potter Marsh and bordered on two sides by large homes.
Federal Bureau of Land Management crews last week began a similar fire-clearing project on the BLM's 730-acre Campbell Tract, within the Far North Bicentennial Park. The cutting will be focused along the southern part of the property, spokeswoman Teresa McPherson said.
Crews have logged other forested areas during the past few years and the city plans more, Walton said.
City and state authorities fear that in a worst-case scenario, a fire that begins small would be blown into a conflagration by strong southeast winds and would race up and across the entire Anchorage Hillside, fed by dead spruce trees and consuming hundreds of homes.
The Spencer Loop is only a quarter-mile from the Prospect Heights subdivisions. The existing trails make it easy for crews to get in. And, officials say, fires are more likely to begin on or near the trails.
Unfortunately, the logging will have a lasting impact on the trail, Walton admitted, but one due to happen anyway as dead trees fall.
"It's going to change the (view), and there's not a whole lot we can do about that," Walton said. "Those trees are coming down no matter what we do. The view you see now is the same view you're going to have in a few years."
He promised the wear and tear on the trail will be corrected. "The damage is no more than when we built the trail," Walton said. "It comes right back. We love our trails and make them usable, and certainly this will be usable this season."
The city chose the contractor, Moriarty Wood Sales of Chugiak, because the company uses a low-impact skidder to drag the logs out of the woods and down the path, Rodman said.
A normal log skidder weighs about 20,000 pounds, Dick Moriarty said. His weighs just 8,500 pounds. It has two winches and 60 feet of cable and never has to leave the trail.
"This is a toy," Moriarty said. "As a matter of fact, the trail is in better condition than when we started. It's smoother."
Trail user Larry Vanderlinden disagrees. He lives in the area and said he was "somewhat chagrined" that the crews began their work at the wettest time of year. "They chewed up the trail," he said.
Rodman said that federal grants became available in May and that the encroaching fire season made starting the project imperative.
Reporter Peter Porco can be reached at pporco@adn.com and at 907-257-4582.
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