By Megan Dettenmaier | October 4, 2018

Another Successful Forestry Practices Tour, Logan Canyon, September 2018

Another successful Forestry Practices Tour took place on September 6, 2018. Thirty individuals joined Darren McAvoy, Extension Assistant Professor of Forestry and others on a tour that included an insider’s view of local projects state, USFS, and private land. Here’s a synopsis of what we toured:

  • We visited the 320-acre Beaver Creek Timber Sale, just east of Beaver Mountain Ski Area in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. Forestry Program Manager, Adam Robinson (State Trust Lands Administration) gave an overview of the background and progress of this (somewhat controversial) timber harvest.
  • We traveled to the Log Cabin Ridge Overlook to learn more about the Red Ryder Vegetation project. This project used a combination of thinning and prescribed fire to improve vegetation structure, species composition, and age classes to improve habitat and resilience to future insect and disease infestation for more than 13K acres that have experienced substantial tree mortality due to mountain pine beetle infestation.
  • We visited an active timber harvest operation by Thompson Logging on School Institutional State Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) land at Temple Flat, where lodgepole pine is being harvested. Thompson Logging began harvesting this SITLA parcel in 2014 and will be completed in the fall of 2018.
  • We toured the Bug Lake Project where Morgan Mendenhall, Bear River Forester for the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, explained the details. This is a collaborative effort between DFFSL and private landowner, Jr. Goring, where more than 20 acres of 40-year old lodgepole pine have been thinned by hand to improve forest health, create wildlife habitat, and increase grazing opportunities.
  • The last stop of the day was on the Rex property where we looked at a shaded fuelbreak project - several acres of subalpine fir were removed to reduce catastrophic fuels, improve forest health, and to increase grazing and wildlife habitat opportunities.

The annual Forestry Practices Tour takes place each fall and is open to the public. For more information and to stay informed of upcoming tours and workshop opportunities, join our mailing list.