Lusignan Forestry will clear-cut 20.3 acres of 70 year old watershed forest, directly above reservoir.
I received Forest Plan and map of watershed roads this morning. Here are my questions to Public Works after review, and the Forest Plan and map, as attachments to today’s email from Public Records:
Dear Dirs Apfelbeck & Knuckey,
My thanks to you and staff for getting this material to me so quickly. I have some follow-up questions which I’m asking now, instead of taking up everyone’s time at Council meeting —
1) How does clear-cutting 20.3 ac of 70-year-old trees, directly above the reservoir, contribute to the stated goal: “To maintain the units in a sustainable productive forest while providing for water quality, fish and wildlife habitat”? 2) Item #19, p. 5 of 9 in the Forest Plan, calls for harvest of 97% of the area (i.e., clear-cut), with a yield of 480 mbf (thousand board feet) — please clarify. The presentation of this contract to Council called for removal of 2.4M (million board feet) per year, the figure I used in previous correspondence. 3) The contract was described as being with Lusignan Forestry, who have performed this work for 11 years. The final page of the Forest Plan, Notice of Transfer of Forest Practices Application/Notification. is signed by Eric Hurd, dba Hood Canal Logging. Please explain the discrepancy. 4) May I conclude that the Forest Plan comprises all of Forestry’s directions to Lusignan? Because I requested Forestry’s directions to Lusignan on what, where, when, and how to cut, and was sent the Forest Plan. 5) On p 11 of the Forest Plan, the Forest Practice Activity Map shows a stream, per the map legend and per the icon depicting a stream crossing. The stream is water-typed A: Ns (non-fish seasonal stream) Does this rainy season stream feed the reservoir? 6) This is a ten-year statement of intent — what are future plans for similar timber harvest? 7) The Forest Plan reports numerous trees >32”dbh, with others measured as >42”dbh. Since no survey was conducted, per this document, were these particularly large trees accessible from the network of roads? 8) Since no survey was done, how was it determined that planting exclusively Doug fir would replicate the diversity of existing forest, upon which a diversity of wildlife habitat depends? 9) The Scope of Work appears to state that the City pays L&I for Lusignan Forestry employees, which is about the highest L&I rate there is. Can you tell me what this L&I is projected to cost for this contract?
I know that this application has been approved. I know that this is how we’ve done it since the fiscal crisis, at least. I appreciate everyone’s patience in responding to these questions.
NB: Please see item 5, 26 May 2021 Council meeting, where Cami Apfelbeck presents Water Dept's commitment to preserving water quality as development gets closer and closer to watershed.
Begin forwarded message:From: BREMERTONWA Public Records System <bremertonwa@govqa.us>
Subject: [Records Center] City Public Records Request :: R003333-111921
Date: 29November2021 at 8:49:12 AM PST
Attachments:
Forest_Road_Map.pdf
fp2422514.pdf
— Please respond above this line —
RE: PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST of November 19, 2021, Reference # R003333-111921. Dear Anna Mockler, The City of Bremerton received a public records request from you on November 19, 2021 for the following: “1) Map of roads within watershed
2) Forestry Manager’s directions to Lusignan on what, where, when, and how to cut, as referenced in the Scope of Work
3) Monitoring plan (ibid)
4) Administrative costs of
a) Forestry Manager person-hours
b) Staff person-hours
c) Road maintenance, e.g., brush cutting, invasive spp removal, gravel fill, fallen tree removal, etc.
d) Repairing vandalism — where there’s a road in a forest, there are trucks that want to drive down it and dump garbage, party, etc.
e) Contract oversight” The City of Bremerton has reviewed its files and has located responsive records to your request. Please log in to the Public Records Center to retrieve the appropriate responsive documents. I have also attached these files for convenience. City Public Records Request – R003333-111921 The Department has responded with the following regarding your request:
- Forest Road Map responsive to #1.
- Forest Practices Application (FPA) responsive to #2. One of these is submitted to and approved by DNR for each harvest area. This dictates all particulars and conditions.
- #3 – All conditions and requirements captured in the FPA.
- #4 – Staff hours are not tracked to specificity requested. 2021 Forestry personnel and operations budget ~$1.3 Million (all services – administration, forest management, road maintenance, biosolids application, utility lands security, and so forth). Budgeted Capital expenditure ~$175,000.
Your records request is now closed and fulfilled. If you have any questions, or wish to discuss this further, please contact me. Sincerely, Angela HooverCity ClerkCity Clerk’s Office
To monitor the progress or update this request please log into the Public Records Center
Mockler4Bremerton 