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Ridgway, CO 81432
Burn Canyon Salvage Timber Sale Community Monitoring Project
Burn Canyon, located within the GMUG National Forests, was significantly charred during wildfires in 2002. The USFS made plans for a salvage logging sale in the canyon post fire. Though local economies would benefit from the three million board feet that could be harvested from the landscape, national and state environmental groups were concerned about the potential for ecological damage. Instigated by the PLP and lead by Art Goodtimes (San Miguel County Commissioner), a multi-party monitoring partnership, including environmental groups, agency personnel, and members of the PLP and community, formed in response to this concern. The initiation of this long-term monitoring project helped prevent appeals to the timber sale, and it continues to provide important information about the ecological, social, and economic impacts of salvage logging. The project, now in its fourth year, is transitioning into a long-term, community-based monitoring effort.
Examples of the varying severity of the burn.
The goal of this monitoring project is to conduct long-term ecological monitoring of the effects of salvage logging sales in Burn Canyon after a 2002 wildfire. The project is a collaborative effort amongst the USFS, environmental groups and community members. The project established its goal by consensus from all of the partners and, therefore, has fostered an environment of open communication and trust between groups that have been adversarial in the past.
Phil Miller discussing the monitoring process with members of the PLP.
The benefits from this project have been both immediate and long lasting. The immediate outcomes of the project were 1) preventing one timber sale located on steep land that would have required the construction of new roads, 2) stopping appeals by environmental groups of two other timber sales within the canyon, and 3) helping two small, local timber companies stay in business, and 4) creating over $1.4 million in economic benefit to neighboring counties. The long-term benefits of the project include 1) gathering valuable ecological and socioeconomic data, 2) educating and involving the community, and 3) cultivating open communication between interest groups, community members and federal agencies. The data from this project will be published and the process by which this partnership and project were formed can be used as an example throughout the country.
Examples of the transects with the Daubenmire Plot.
Click below to download a pdf of:
- The Burn Canyon Understory Monitoring Report
2003-2006 - Appendices for The Burn Canyon Understory Monitoring Report
2003-2006