The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly enacted an ordinance that would authorize an emergency harvest of Spruce Bark Beetle impacted forestlands including spruce which are dying, or susceptible to dying, and establishes a framework to guide forest treatments. KPB Land Management has been working to develop management framework for a coordinated mitigation response in light of the progressing outbreak that began in 2016.
The estimated 195,000 acres severely impacted on the Kenai Peninsula are closely monitored and surveyed by the Alaska Division of Forestry Forest Health Program, which are experiencing high rates of spruce mortality, averaging 60-70%, and up to 90% mortality, in highly impacted areas. The outbreak is affecting more than 1.6 million acres that were infested during the past six years.
To add to the increased hazards, the Kenai Peninsula Borough is losing a valuable timber resource that could be utilized for fuelwood, fiber wood, lumber, or house logs for building, which could stimulate the local economy by providing forest products to the marketplace. 21,000 acres across the Borough have been identified as high priority for planning and implementing forest management treatments, and additional areas are expected to become mapped as the infestation progresses.
Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce said:
“Our thought was to, obviously the fire danger’s there and, what we tried to do and what we’re trying to do is get out ahead of receiving grants money and having the private sector, bringing the private sector in, to take the initiative, to take the lead. We’ll manage it. We’ll manage the permitting and the site selection and the trees and up till now, whether you know it or not, we’ve gone to most of our schools and we’ve removed a lot of the dead trees around our schools and our borough buildings. Borough lands are the next larger project that we’re targeting.”
The proposed program outlines forest management sale reports as the central format that includes treatment prescriptions and harvest practices to reduce wildland fire hazard and encourage utilization of economically viable forest product values, according to Land Management Agent, Dakota Truitt.
The ordinance also includes a proposed sunset date of June 2025, which could be extended by future action of the assembly.
Mayor Pierce added:
“Let us go to work. We’re not going to go cut any trees down and do it recklessly. We’ll make sure we protect the environment. We’ll make sure the permitting process is in place and the protocols there. You’ve got the anadromous stream ordinance that protects your waterways, we’ll follow all those rules. We’ll make sure our contractors are licensed, bonded, insured and make sure that they understand what the terms and conditions of their work are.”
A project page has been developed online at www.kpb.us/forestmanagement.