By Michael Hoyt, Corvallis
The Forest Service is moving forward with one of its largest project in decades which will have an impact on the water Bitterroot Valley ranchers and farmers use for irrigation. The Gold Butterfly Project is designed to change the characteristics of over 55,000 acres of forestland in the Sapphire Mountains east of Corvallis and Hamilton.
Advertised as a restoration project, this management action will affect a large area in ways that are likely to be detrimental. Hidden in the many pages of documentation produced by the Forest Service, projections are that, during the life of the project (at least 8 years), the amount of water-born sediment will increase significantly, the ability of the forest to sequester carbon will be markedly reduced, and access to the forest will be greatly reduced (weekends only).
Unfortunately, the project’s documentation does not include information from the most recent studies and research which reveal the many other detrimental effects which will be incurred.
One result will be the diminished ability of the forest to slow spring runoff from snowmelt because of an extensive reduction in the soil’s capacity to retain moisture. Soil’s capacity to retain moisture is reduced by (among other things) mechanical disturbance, a decrease in the volume of organic material, and/or compaction by heavy equipment, each of which takes place when logging or mechanized thinning occurs in a forest.
Damage to water quality will be caused by a huge increase in (heavy equipment) traffic on existing roads and the introduction of new roads required to implement the project. The Forest Service claims that the subsequent increase in water sedimentation will be controlled by what they call “best management practices.” However, each of us who use Forest Service roads knows that, however well-intentioned, best management practices are seldom if ever maintained beyond the initial installation.
The Gold Butterfly Project is only the first of several the Forest Service plans to execute over the next several years. One 10-year project is planned for the eastern mountain faces along the entire stretch of the Bitterroots on the west side of our Valley.
Given that the most recent scientifically based projections are for an ever-warming climate—according to MSU, even in the Bitterroot Valley—the availability and quality of irrigation water during the last months of the annual growing season will become increasingly important. If you use irrigation water, it would be sensible to look beyond the politically motivated claims of “more jobs” (the handful required for the project will go to logging contractors from outside our Valley anyway) and educate yourself about how these Forest Service projects impact your water-dependent operations.