Forest Service updates review of ‘End of the World’ project

Officials on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest updated the environmental review of a huge timber, restoration and prescribed fire project near Grangeville that was previously blocked by a federal judge.

The agency released the updated documentation Friday that details the expected effects of the End of the World Project. It is projected to produce about 144 million board-feet of timber and is designed to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires in a roughly 50,000-acre area.

“The focus of this project is fuel reduction and decreasing the risk and impacts of high-intensity wildfire,” said acting forest supervisor Heath Perrine in a news release. “This project is of vital importance to many small communities — including Grangeville and Elk City — and dispersed private property and lands in Idaho County.”

In 2022 the End of the World project and the nearby Hungry Ridge project were remanded to the agency by Judge Candy W. Dale at Boise following a challenge by the Friends of the Clearwater, a Moscow-based environmental group. Dale said forest officials “took liberties outside of a reasonable interpretation of the (Nez Perce National Forest) plan” when counting old-growth timber in the area.

The forest plan dictates that old growth stands make up 10% of the forested acres within certain designated areas, and stands identified as future old growth make up another 5%.

According to the updated analysis by agency scientists, old growth stands in the project areas adhere to the standards highlighted by Dale and the proposed logging, described as intermediate harvest, would not bring them below the standard. In some cases, the logging will improve the health of scattered ponderosa pine and Douglas fir old growth stands by removing younger shade-tolerant species growing beneath them.

“The younger competing Douglas-fir and grand fir would be thinned from the understory to reduce ladder fuels and decrease the chance of stand replacing wildfires yet retain old growth habitat and snag dependent species,” agency specialists wrote in the updated environmental impact statement.

Much of the area will also be treated with prescribed fire. According to the EIS, both logging and burning will reduce tree densities and help protect old growth trees by lowering both fire risk and competition for sunlight and moisture.

“Treating dense, overstocked stands would help retain and maintain habitats for many species that are dependent on these ponderosa pine communities and old growth habitats,” they wrote.

Nor are there expected to be cumulative effectives to old growth from the adjacent Hungry Ridge Project, which also calls for logging and prescribed fire to reduce the threat of large-scale wildfires.

The new analysis was conducted under an emergency action determination, an authority included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that allows expedited environmental review of projects. The designation also blocks normal the process where people and organizations who participate in forest planning can file administrative challenges. However, people who find fault with such projects are able to challenge them in court.

The documents are available at fs.usda.gov/project/?project=52541.

Barker may be contacted at lmtribune.com.