Dixie Forest deal pleases managers, wilds activists

Environmentalists in the Mountain West say they are hoping an unexpected deal struck with Dixie National Forest will provide a precedent to keep logging out of projects meant to protect homes from forest fires.

The showdown was the first major challenge to a project categorized under the Healthy Forest Restoration Act, which passed in 2003 with hearty support from the president but opposition from many environmental groups.

The amiable negotiations surprised both groups, said Kevin Mueller, executive director of the Utah Environmental Congress, which took the lead in objecting to the project.

"When we had a meeting to try to resolve this, both parties expected it to be 15 minutes with an 'agree to disagree' and 'we'll see you in court,' " he said. "But when we gave them a proposal and they didn't have a knee-jerk reaction against it, we saw it wasn't going to be impossible."

In fact, both sides said the agreement established a large degree of trust they look forward to building on.

"It created, for the first time, a good relationship between the Dixie National Forest and the UEC, whereas in the past the relationship has always been confrontational," Mueller said.

The project protested last month was intended to clear brush and some trees within a mile and a half of Duck Creek Village, a cabin community about 30 miles east of Cedar City, to protect it from potential forest fires. But the UEC, along with New Mexico-based Forest Guardians, filed an objection to the plan because it would allow logging companies to harvest some larger trees for commercial purposes.

The compromise set a cap of 9 inches on the diameter of trees that could be cut down in most areas. But the conservationists compromised when Dayle Flanigan, district ranger over the area, asked for flexibility up to 18 inches on large trees, mostly white firs that aren't used for commercial purposes, closer to the communities because of the fear that the tops of those trees could present a fire risk.

"The fact that it was more noncommercial trees Dayle was concerned about showed he really was more concerned about the fires," Mueller said.

And according to Bryan Bird at Forest Guardians, the good will that sprang from the deal, and particularly the provision to leave more of the large trees, is a product of the compromise environmentalists hope will spread to other cases.

"This shows the Forest Service does agree these projects need to focus on small trees, and that basically any commercial logging under this act is inappropriate," he said. "It really set the precedent at a time when there are many more projects fairly close to decision time across the West. I hope other forests will follow Dixie's lead on this."

The question of whether the deal may have an impact may be answered fairly soon. Mueller said the big test would be an upcoming project near Monticello and Blanding in the Manti-La Sal National Forest. That project is designed to improve watershed in the cities, but also includes the clearing of some forest area to protect communities from fires.

In the meantime, Bird said while he was worried the new national forest law would turn out to be a veiled attempt to make logging easier in national forests, the deal in Dixie has done a lot to ease some of his fears.

"When this started, we felt like our worst nightmares had come true," he said. "But now I feel confident that if the spirit of the HFRA is met by the Forest Service on the ground, it could be a good tool to protect communities."

And while the friendly situation in Dixie didn't give the environmentalists a sweeping legal precedent in the courts, Mueller said he was confident that showdown would happen within the next couple of years.

"Frankly, even if we got a strong ruling one way or the other," Mueller said, "I think we would both agree that what happened here is better for everyone."

E-mail: dhinckley@desnews.com

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