When Deschutes National Forest officials began to plan a timber sale between Skyliners Road and Century Drive in 1997, they noted a handful of single-track mountain bike trails they planned to log around.

But by the time loggers got around to cutting down trees in the Katalo Commercial Thin (CT) this summer, the popular single-track trails in ”Phil’s Trail” had expanded like the strands in a spider web, reaching well into logging units.

Some in the cycling community howled when the Forest Service closed some trails for safety reasons. The protests continued even after officials explained that the logging would improve the health of the forest, remove dead and dying trees and reduce the risk of wildfire.

One man went so far as to call Loren Sessa, Deschutes National Forest representative who oversees timber contracts, to ask how he could live with himself after contributing to ”clear cutting the forest.”

”The sale didn’t involve any clear cutting and is really to restore forest health,” Sessa said. ”I asked him if he had seen the area, and he hadn’t. So I told him to check it out and call me after that.”

The return call never came.

Nonetheless, the interaction between Sessa and the angry caller underscores a shift in how the region’s residents view logging, the defining economic force in Central Oregon’s evolution.

As the population grows, chains on bikes seem to be replacing chains on saws in the forest, to the chagrin of loggers and to the delight of logging opponents.

Today, loggers still cut trees, but at about one-tenth of the pace of their fathers and grandfathers. Currently, there are about 12 active logging sales on the Ochoco and Deschutes national forests, according to agency officials. Today, the Deschutes National Forest produces about 74 million board feet of timber, about 50 percent of the 141 million board feet produced 10 years ago.

From 1995 to 2001, the Ochoco National Forest also experienced a drop in the amount of timber offered for sale, from 27 million board feet in 1995 to 14 million board feet six years later.

And during this summer’s devastating wildfire season, state and national politicians focused on the decline in logging. President Bush visited Oregon to call for reducing regulations and increasing commercial thinning. Last week, his administration asked Congress to ease the amount of environmental analysis necessary for logging and limit appeals of timber sales.

Processing the sale

Unlike a generation ago, logging does not happen without extensive planning, and timber sales are in the making long before officials actually meet with loggers and offer an area up for bid, said Bill Peterson, silviculturist for the Deschutes National Forest.

Each ranger district in the forest has management plans for different watersheds, and those plans outline ”vegetation projects,” which include timber sales.

Officials maintain a list of priority sale areas – locations where they would like to log. For instance, the stretch of land abutting Century Drive between Bend and Mount Bachelor falls into a priority logging area.

Once officials decide where to log, a team of biologists, soil scientists and other specialists head into the field to monitor the area for rare plants and animals. They look for endangered species, such as the spotted owl, and other protected species like raptors.

Officials try to monitor an area for at least two years to gather thorough data, Peterson said.

Following that period, officials prepare an environmental analysis, in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). That process can take one to two years.

Following the analysis, the district ranger decides whether to authorize a sale.

Once authorized, the sale is subject to appeal, a process that adds about six months. If a group or person appeals the sale and loses the appeal, they can sue the agency to stop the sale. That can add years to the process.

But if the sale isn’t appealed, or if an appeal is denied, the agency notifies the public that it will offer a logging sale and asks for sealed bids. That notification specifies the acreage and estimated harvestable timber from the sale, and proposes a starting bid.

Logging companies must present a cashier’s check or a bond to ensure their commitment to the sale, and then officials begin an oral auction.

Once the sale is sold, logging companies usually have up to three years to cut the timber.

This entire process, including the time allotted to the companies to log the timber, can take seven to 10 years.

The wildlife surveys for the Katalo CT project began in 1995. Although that sale wasn’t appealed, logging did not begin until this year. Crown Pacific bought the sale in 1999 and subcontracted to Rose Logging. Crown Pacific saw the sale as ”shelf stock” and waited three years to log it.

Twenty-five years ago, when logging was the primary focus of the forests, agency officials planned, prepared and sold a sale within one year, said Jim Schlaich, presale contractor for the Deschutes.

Much of the time, loggers clear cut the forests or removed almost all the trees.

”It’s a lot easier to plan a clear cut than a selective sale,” Schlaich said.

The Trees They Take

These days, once the agency sells a timber sale, the logging company works closely with the Forest Service to develop a contract outlining the specifics of the sale.

An extensive document that can be 200 pages, the contract specifies what size trees may be cut and where, the number of trees that must be left standing, and financial details about the deposits and fees the timber company pays.

The contract for the Katalo CT sale fits into a three-ring binder 4 inches thick.

By contrast, a contract to log private land is usually about six pages, said Trevor Stone of Crown Pacific. Forest Service contracts are time consuming and exhaustive, he said.

”The level of analysis is immense,” Stone said. ”A lot of people think we go out there with our chain saws and just start logging when the Forest Service sells a sale. Actually, the agency is very specific as far as what we can and cannot do.”

Modern sales typically require companies to cut trees that are anywhere between 5 inches and 15 inches in diameter at chest height and leave larger trees.

A clump of trees, part of the Katalo CT stand off of the Cascade Lakes Highway between Century Drive and Highway 97, have been painted with bright orange Xs. That X means to leave the tree. As silviculturist, Peterson walks the sale area and decides which trees stay and which can be cut.

Those that stay are typically bigger than those fated to being felled. The ones that stay may have smaller, skinnier trees growing right next to them. By cutting the smaller, more sickly trees, Peterson aims to open up the forest, allow more sunlight to reach the trees’ needles and eliminate competition for water.

Old Versus New

Schlaich said forestry priorities have changed in recent decades. Previously, officials took the best trees. However, by cutting much of the old growth, companies left large swaths of land open to ”recolonization.” A few remaining trees spread seeds, and clumps of trees began growing together. That led to clustered forests, choked with unhealthy trees competing with one another for scarce resources.

Today, Forest Service officials try to leave the best trees to create healthier forests.

”Our average tree today is what they threw away 20 years ago,” Schlaich said.

At the turn of the 20th century, virgin ponderosa pine forests typically had between 15 and 30 trees per acre. The forests today have anywhere from 300 to 400 trees per acre. Peterson said the Forest Service aims to bring that number down to about 100 trees per acre.

The objective, he said, is to return the forests to areas with less brush and plant growth on the forest floor, and with larger, older trees.

The Next Generation

Restoring the forests to a healthier state will render large, old trees. However, that will not mean officials will return to the clear-cut logging of the past, Peterson said.

Social sentiment about logging has changed dramatically, said Art Currier of the Ochoco National Forest.

For decades large trucks stacked to the brim with giant pine trees cleared from the forests rolled through Central Oregon cities like Prineville, which hosted the timber carnival in the 1970s and 1980s.

”The bigger the logs on the truck, the bigger applause we got,” he said. ”There were no protesters there. People loved it.”

In that era, the volume of timber sold marked the Forest Service’s success in growing, selling and logging trees.

Such intense harvesting began after World War II, when soldiers returned home and the country experienced an economic boom. Timber was needed for houses, buildings, ships and more.

Prior to the Second World War, the Forest Service took a more custodial approach to the nation’s forests. The agency would cut trees and thin stands to eliminate disease and insect infestations, Currier said.

Today, the agency is in transition, as it swings from the dramatic output and harvest of trees to a more restorative management. Agency officials credit social pressure for the change. Along with the environmental movement came a recreational boom, which put more people into the forests. Those people want to see large, green trees, not cleared areas sprouted with stumps, Schlaich said.

Eric Meglasson, president of Central Oregon Trails Alliance, a mountain biking advocacy group, said the logging on Phil’s Trail brought the issue of logging to the surface for many recreationists.

Acknowledging the protests from mountain bikers, Meglasson said that logging will benefit the forests in the long run and that he believes recreation and logging can coexist.

”No one is excited to see logging when it happens. It is ugly,” Meglasson said. ”But most people realize that forests need to be managed and that logging can be done in a way to benefit the forest and the trails in the long run.”

Rachel Odell can be

reached at 541-617-7811 or rodell@bendbulletin.com