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Forest project planned west of Custer
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FarkThe U.S. Forest Service is proposing to improve forest conditions on more than 30,000 acres west of Custer through a combination of commercial logging, thinning and prescribed burning, according to Hell Canyon District Ranger Mike Lloyd.
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the South Project is now available for review, Lloyd said.
The project is intended to reduce the risk of catastrophic fire and mountain pine beetle infestation, as well as provide a diverse habitat for wildlife, Lloyd said.
The project area is about 5 miles west of Custer in the Upper and Lower Pleasant Valley watersheds.
Of the 52,081 acres in the project area, 7,800 acres are private land and 1,200 acres are owned by the state of South Dakota where no actions are proposed.
The major roads within the project area include U.S. Highway 16, Pleasant Valley Road and Lightning Creek Road.
The area is directly south of the Jasper Fire burn, according to Kelly Honors, National Environmental Policy Act planner for the Hell Canyon Ranger District.
Honors said the preferred option in the plan calls for commercial logging on 31,527 acres, thinning on about 6,000 acres, and prescribed burning on about 11,000 acres.
The second action alternative calls for commercial timber harvest on 32,118 acres, thinning on about 4,000 acres and prescribed burning on about 9,000 acres.
Honors said much of the various treatments would overlap.
A third alternative calls for no action.
Honors said part of the project calls for opening up meadows and taking pine trees out of aspen stands.
“Aspen is more resistant to fire,” she explained.
Honors said forest personnel are also examining road options.
“We’re looking at road closures and some conversions from nonsystem roads to system roads and closing some non-system roads. We are working in concert with travel management personnel,” she said.
The ranger district is seeking public comment on the draft environmental impact statement, which is available for review at the Hell Canyon Ranger District Office, 330 Mount Rushmore Road, Custer, S.D. Comments will be accepted until July 21.
The draft also is on the Forest Service Web site: www.fs.fed.us/r2/blackhills/projects/nepa/public_docs/south/index.shtml.
Honors said the final proposal could be ready by the end of September. Allowing time for the appeals process and for the commercial harvest to be sold, work on the project could be six months to two years away, she said.
For more information, contact Betsy Koncerak, project leader, or Lloyd at 605-673-4853.
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