Hi.
I'm Michelle, and an Idahoan that has a love
for the great outdoor opportunities that exist in our state.
Recently, I've learned that something different
is happening here in the Payette National Forest.
For the past five years, the forest has been a part
of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program,
and forest restoration work is in full swing
within these ecosystems.
An important part of this program
is the collaborative process
that the Payette Forest Coalition is a key player in.
The Payette Forest Coalition is an independent group
of interested members of the public
that represent all interests in land stewardship.
For these projects, the Payette National Forest
and Payette Forest Coalition came together
to increase the scale and pace
of forest restoration projects,
improve communication and trust,
and understand values and needs of various interest groups.
These projects that bring the interest of all parties
to the table have promoted economic growth
and improved forest and watershed health.
They have enhanced fish and wildlife habitat
through vegetation thinning, road improvements,
riparian enhancements, invasive species management,
and fuels treatment.
Today, the Payette National Forest
is actively managing 130,000 acres
within the Mill Creek-Council Mountain
and Lost Creek-Boulder Creek watersheds
north of Council, Idaho.
In addition, they are working on 50,000 more acres
in the Weiser River watershed.
The goal of the forest service is to redevelop
ecologically sound systems and watersheds
that function naturally and have openings
and vegetation patterns that are somewhat
similar to the past, when fire played a dominant role.
Each project is helping to improve watershed health
by reducing road sediment,
add or replace road culverts with open bottom arches
to allow easy fish passage,
and reduce dense vegetation that pose fire risks.
Much of the Payette National Forest
is within a fire-adapted ecosystem,
meaning historically, frequent, lower-intensity fires
reduced fuel that created natural diversity,
such as forest openings, meadows,
and the desirable animal habitat.
The coalition advocates prescribed fire
combined with timber projects at a landscape level.
That management approach changes
forest vegetation conditions so they are more resilient
to wildfire while providing economic and social benefits.
After mechanical vegetation removal,
adding fire under a controlled environment
mimics the historic fire role.
Each year, forest personnel use prescribed fire
on thousands of acres, following vegetation reduction
from timber sales.
We go out and look at an area that we visited
prior to treatment, and we saw how dense
and overgrown it was,
and then we go back out after veg treatment
and look at it again and day oh, now we understand
how the firefighters would be able to get in here
and fight a fire successfully,
and not have it blow up and consume 100,000 acres.
[Michelle] As a part of their collaborative goals,
projects have been developed that generate
increased timber value
and much needed good restoration work.
I've always said that timber is just an outcome
of good restoration work.
[Michelle] The Evergreen Saw Mill,
near New Meadows, has added a second shift,
due largely to the Lost Creek-Boulder Creek project,
and frequently posts a help wanted sign.
These projects have also helped fill log yards
from Meridian to Grangeville.
It's allowed us to increase shifts.
It's given me the more of the confidence
that we can hire more people on,
that we can grow the company,
and I hope they keep just doing these projects,
'cause every time you see these projects,
it's a win-win for everybody.
The win-win comes by thinning the overgrown forest,
and by providing economic stability to these mountain towns.
The effort also focuses on road management
and recreational opportunities,
and those, too, can present a challenging debate,
but bringing people together to talk about these issues
produces an outcome that reaps strong benefits.
The forest service developed projects
that reduced road impacts, but maintain public access,
emergency access regarding wildfire,
and for future land stewardship projects.
In a lot of places,
their roads are redundant, also,
so they'll get a road out of the stream bottom,
and leave a road on the ridge top or a mid slope,
still keep access.
[Michelle] The Lost Creek Watershed
and Lost Valley Reservoir
are very popular recreational areas.
Recreation improvements were needed,
and the collaborative effort
brought people together to make improvements.
[Wendy] It was very important to include
in that project some work to improve
those dispersed campsites,
to move a few sites away from the immediate shore
of the reservoir, to harden some sites
so there'd be less erosion, less resource damage,
to put in some vault toilets so we don't have
sanitation concerns up there like we had before.
It was not a pleasant place to be.
The bottom line is that collaboration works.
Already, these accomplishments include
84,000 acres of fuel treatment,
132 miles of stream restoration,
90,000 acres of wildlife habitat enhancement,
16 stream crossings improved for aquatic organism passage,
nearly 150,000 CCF
of timber sold,
enhanced and upgraded recreational opportunities,
and 10,000 acres of noxious weed treatment.
The status quo has changed.
Forest restoration is taking place,
such as this vegetation treatment
and the use of prescribed fire.
The collaborative process has also helped
to effectively deal with the litigation issues.
When the Lost Creek-Boulder Creek project
was challenged in court by non-collaborative parties,
the Payette Forest Coalition intervened
on behalf of the forest service.
The federal court cited the strong collaborative
and community support and dismissed the lawsuit.
The benefit is an increased pace and scale
of landscape restoration.
Project planning is now more efficient,
and on the ground results are healthy,
resilient, sustainable landscapes.
[Mike] It's just a good way to do business,
face to face.
Everything that you're doing right now, okay?
Exactly.
[Mike] 'Cause the more we talk,
the more we realize we have a lot in common
in what we wanna see.
We share a lot of the same values.
It's been very gratifying to see
work get done on the ground in real time,
so that our forests are healthier,
they're more resilient to wildfire,
and in addition, we're having healthier wildlife habitat
and fishing places, and also better recreation opportunities
for everyone, so it's a lot of work,
but it is working.
All of us value our public lands
and want to see these incredible forested ecosystems
survive for generations to come.
Forest restoration has started in these special places,
like the Payette National Forest,
and the collaborative process is key to implementing
positive results in the landscape.
Collaboration brings our values together,
and together, more and more forested lands
are being proactively brought back into healthy conditions.
If you're an interested Idahoan like me,
learn more about the collaborative process,
and then pull up a chair to the table
so that these significant accomplishments,
through collaboration, can continue into the future.
(birds chirping)