Chain-Saw Salvage Work In Wilderness Opposed

Some environmentalists are objecting to a proposal to use chain saws instead of handsaws to clear thousands of downed trees in wilderness areas of the Wenatchee National Forest.

Forest officials are preparing an environmental analysis of the impacts of using chain saws to clear out trees that fell during last year’s unusually harsh winter with heavy snowfall.

Federal law prohibits the use of mechanized equipment in designated wilderness areas. But forest managers can give special permission to use them in certain cases, such as fighting forest fires.

Some environmentalists suggest hikers should just climb over the obstacles until the trees can be cut apart in a more environmentally friendly way - with handsaws.

“If you can’t get into an area of the wilderness for a year or two because of fallen trees, then, hey, go somewhere else,” said Thom Peters, a trustee for the Alpine Lakes Protection Society and chairman of the North Cascades Chapter of Wilderness Watch.

“This constant demand for easy access is part of why the wilderness is so overused,” he said.

Peters said those two organizations and the Leavenworth Audubon Adopt-A-Forest group plan to challenge the proposal.

Forest Service officials issued an environmental analysis Thursday, when a 30-day public comment period began.

If approved by forest supervisor Sonny O’Neal, the proposal would probably involve the most extensive use of chain saws ever permitted in wilderness areas around Wenatchee, said Elton Thomas, the forest’s natural resources supervisor.

Forest officials say last winter’s heavy snowfall and wet spring brought down so many trees that it would be impossible to cut through them all with handsaws.

“It would take us the next three or four years, working like little beavers, to get through all of it,” said Ranger Becky Heath of the Leavenworth Ranger District. “We picked away at them last year with hand tools, but we didn’t even come close to finishing.”

The district has more than 50 miles of trails that have an average of 30 downed trees per mile. But some trails are clogged with 100 to 150 fallen trees per mile, said Lisa Therrell, wilderness manager for the Leavenworth district.

Therrell said most people who tried to hike the trails last year were turned back by the mess. One woman suffered minor injuries.

“For people on foot, it was pretty miserable,” she said. “For horses, it was impossible.”

The forest’s Leavenworth Ranger District is seeking permission to use chain saws on the Ingalls Creek, Icicle Creek and Jack Creek trails.

The Lake Wenatchee district would like to use chain saws to clear portions of the White River, Indian Creek, Boulder Creek, Little Giant, White Pine, Little Wenatchee and Cady Creek trails in the Glacier Peak Wilderness.