Community support credited for massive thinning project near Mazama

MAZAMA — Work will begin this summer on a massive thinning project on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest near Mazama, prompted by efforts from residents to clear their own land of the dense forest conditions that promote wildfires and insect or disease infestations.

A $1 million contract has been awarded to 5 Star Forestry, an Idaho company that will spend the next two summers clearing small-diameter trees on 1,485 acres on the Methow Valley Ranger District. Some of the wood will be left for firewood-gatherers.

It’s called the Lost Driveway Project because it initially went from Lost River Road to Driveway Butte, but it expanded greatly when interest among local residents grew, said Meg Trebon, the ranger district’s assistant fire management officer.

More than 60 percent of the units involved are next to private property, where dozens of private property owners worked with the state Department of Natural Resources to thin fuels and reduce the forest’s susceptibility to wildfires and insects. All the land immediately next to private property has been treated.

“The Lost Driveway Project is a good example of how widespread community concern and support for a project helped elevate it and prioritized it on our very, very full plate,” Trebon said.

Trebon said the project area includes late successional reserve forestland, where special considerations must be made for the Northern spotted owl. But the citizen commitment helped prompt the Forest Service to complete its environmental analysis.

Due to current fire danger, crews will have to shut down after 1 p.m., and eventually may be stopped by fire restrictions. They will also shut down from Aug. 1 through 15 to minimize disturbances to sensitive and endangered nesting birds.