County faces hurdles in attempts to harvest trees ahead of ash borer
It may not be cost effective or even possible to harvest ash stands in the county forest before they are destroyed by emerald ash borer.
Emerald ash borer has already decimated ash stands around the state and country and was recently found within the city of Medford. The invasive pest bores into ash trees killing them within a matter of a few years.
Various species of ash account for a sizable potion of the county forest particularly in lowland and swampy areas where they are one of the relatively few commercial tree species to thrive. However, according to forest administrator Luke Williams, this also presents challenges on being able to economically harvest them.
At the August 16 forestry and recreation committee, Williams reported to committee members that he had spoken with three of the most active logging operators in the county about the potential of ash salvage harvests and he said they would all be interested in bidding on the stands.
Williams said while they could put together sales, there are also market considerations with the possibility that the sales would not receive any bids. In that case, the county would have been out the money for preparing the sales.
“There is a cost of establishing things that may or may not get cut,” he said.
A major risk for the county is that the largest density of ash trees are in some of the most marginal sites. As evidenced by last winter’s mild weather and the negative impact it had on logging in the county forest, Williams said if they don’t get a couple decent winters of frozen conditions, they wouldn’t be able to get the areas logged.
Another option, Williams said, is that the county could do direct sales in portions. Direct sales are allowed if the value is $10,000 or under and there are 500 cords or less.
“At this point we are trying to utilize it before its dead,” Williams said.
Committee member Scott Mildbrand asked about the amount of work involved in setting up a sale like this, if it was just a matter of setting the perimeter.
Mildbrand said he felt it was better to go out to bid on the ash salvage than not and allow it to die.
In other business, committee members reviewed the proposed 2025 department budget showing a more than $7,000 reduction in projected expenses for the coming year.
Willams reduced the amount budgeted for ATV replacement going to a 10-year replacement schedule. “It is not getting a lot of hours on it,” he said. He also reduced the amount in the vehicle replacement account noting the F-350 truck used by the department only has 26,000 miles on it and would last years to come. “I would like to replace the trucks when it makes sense,” he said, rather than just doing so every six years. He also proposed capping the amount in the vehicle outlay account to between $50,000 and $70,000 which would be the replacement cost of two vehicles.
There was also discussion regarding the need to mow hunter access trails in the county forest. This was not done this year.
The county also received the grant checks to reimburse half the cost of the replacement of the Chelsea Lake and Camp 8 dams. Together these amount to about $370,000 coming back to the county’s general fund.
With a dam inspection completed on Miller Dam, and a it receiving a clean bill of health, the projection is that the dam will last another 50 years without major work and the others will last about 100 years.
