On August 5, 2021, the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club (Sierra Club) met with the U.S. Forest Service (FS) District Ranger and his staff for field trip to Compartment 47, Stand 1, which is part of the proposed Patroon First Thinning Project in Sabine National Forest. The Texas Conservation Alliance (TCA) also attended this field trip.
Thinning is a forestry term that results in a certain percentage of trees in a stand (similar trees in an area) will be logged. Thinning is done for economic reasons to reduce tree competition and allow remaining trees to grow bigger in a shorter time. The Patroon Project proposes thinning 2,683 acres of 20-40 year-old pine trees in 60 stands of trees.
At a downstream site in Stand 1, there was a discussion about SMZs (streamside management zones). These vegetated buffers protect streams from soil eroded from the forest during rainfalls.
The District Ranger stated that instead of a 50-foot-wide SMZ (on both sides of the stream) that he proposes a 75-foot-wide SMZ. The Ranger stated that beyond 75 feet, depending on the number of hardwood trees and where they are located, the SMZ could be wider than 75 feet.
This would be contingent on looking at these terraces and seeing what types of hardwood trees (preferably trees like White Oaks) occur, how many exist, whether they are individuals or in clumps, whether they are large or small, and whether it is possible when thinning pine trees to leave some as a buffer around the hardwoods.
The idea is to move to a more natural condition which would provide for a gradual transition from the streamside floodplain forest to the pines on the uplands, via a lower slope with more hardwood trees. This is the idea for the wider SMZs which provide a natural, mixed, pine-hardwood forest, between the mostly hardwood streamside and the mostly pine upland.
It was stated that Stand 1, due to the soils that exist in it, is naturally a hardwood area and therefore this transition zone makes sense and gets Stand 1 closer to where forest ecology says it should be.
The Sierra Club supported a 100-foot-wide or wider SMZ, on both sides, to create the pine-hardwood transition zone that was proposed by the TCA. However, the Sierra Club was willing to have a 75-foot wide SMZ, on both sides, with potentially more SMZ created based on site-specific hardwood tree proximity.
It was agreed that if there are clumps of hardwood trees farther away from the SMZs, that these can be delineated, marked as inclusions, and would not be logged during the thinning.
These inclusions are addressed in the Forest Plan which says, “Retain clumps of deciduous trees in pine regeneration areas, according to vegetation management guidelines and ECS vegetation characteristics, to meet present and future desired conditions such as species composition and den trees."
The group visited the headwater of the stream that we had just seen in Stand 1. This headwater is actively eroding, probably due to poor logging practices that occurred during a 1998 blowdown salvage logging project. There were a number of skidder trails upslope from the headwater and these bring more water and cause active, cutting, and erosion.
It was agreed that a large no logging buffer zone should be placed around the stream headwater to reduce further runoff and that the numerous, small ephemerals or old skidder trails (logging roads) that drain water to the headwater, should have a 33-50-foot-wide SMZ on both sides to keep disturbance of soil and runoff from getting worse and further affecting water quality. This buffer protection should go all the way from the stream headwater to the FS road at the top of the slope.
During the field trip we did not discuss variable density thinning (VDT). This type of thinning allows for variable tree densities and mimics the way trees usually grow. The forest looks more natural with areas of dense and sparse trees scattered across the landscape.
VDT is mentioned in the Forest Plan when it says, "Meet partial retention visual quality objective (VQO) for management along highways, paved State or County roads, and primary Forest Service system roads and trails; and maximum modification and modification in other areas" and “Vary densities of thinnings if possible (retain more trees closer to the viewshed)." The Sierra Club supports an agreement with the FS on the use of VDT for this project.
The field visit did not discuss snags (standing dead trees) or downed trees when we looked at Stand 1. However, the Forest Plan has an estimate for how many snags/downed trees the forest should have. This includes a short-term objective of 3-6 snags/acre (for 20-50-year-old trees) and 4-6 snags/acre for a long-term objective. The Sierra Club wants the long-term objective implemented because the Forest Plan is already 25 years old.
Snags are addressed in the Forest Plan when it says, “Retain snags and recognizable den trees during all compartment entries, silvicultural treatments, or thinnings" and "Snag and hardwood den tree retention densities, and dead and down woody material will be provided through silvicultural practices used to achieve the desired future conditions for each management area". The Sierra Club supports an agreement with the FS about the number of snags/downed trees that will be left in each acre in each Stand.
The Sierra Club will continue to work with the FS collaboratively to ensure that ecosystem management is implemented on the Patroon Project in Sabine National Forest.