Agency Removes French Creek Area From Timber Sale Environmentalists Hail Decision; Forest Service Cites Economic Reasons

The Payette National Forest has decided to exclude the French Creek drainage, which abuts protected wilderness, from its salvage sale of timber burned in 1994 wildfires.

The valley, about 30 miles north of McCall, has been the focus of a preservation drive by environmental groups.

But the Forest Service cited economic reasons in issuing its decision Friday.

“It would all have been logged by helicopter,” said Ron Hamilton, the Payette forest’s resource branch chief.

“With the long flight distances and the high cost of helicopter logging right now it was just not economical.”

The Forest Service said it would proceed with plans for salvage logging on another 16,500 acres of the 275,000 acres that burned a year ago in the 2.3 million-acre Payette National Forest.

The forest plans to offer for sale at least 118 million board feet of timber, enough to build roughly 12,000 single-family homes. The Boise National Forest, which also was hit hard by 1994 wildfires, announced in March that it would sell about 200 million board feet of burned timber.

Forest Service documents estimate the Payette forest sales will bring more than $4 million net revenue to the agency and more than $3 million in payments to area counties.

Environmentalists hailed the agency’s decision to spare French Creek.

“This is a great decision and a great triumph,” said Mike Medberry, who since the early 1970s has led successful efforts to protect the area from logging. “They say it’s economics, but they never would have taken the hard look if it weren’t for public pressure.”

Medberry said he also was pleased by the Forest Service’s decision to create a wildlife migration corridor from the headwaters of French Creek to the Salmon River.

The agency will work to protect deer, elk and other wildlife that move from alpine peaks to lush valley meadows.