Details Soon On Rim Fire Salvage Logging

Sonora, CA — Later this week we will have a better idea of how much salvage logging will occur in the Rim Fire burned area.

Forest Service Spokesperson Rebecca Garcia announced this morning that the “Draft Final EIS for salvage logging” will be made public this Friday. Then the “Record of Decision” will be finalized on August 28. There are a variety of different alternatives that have been proposed.

The documents will be available for view on the Stanislaus National Forest website. The salvage logging operations could still be held up by appeals or lawsuits. On a recent Mother Lode Views focused on the Rim Fire, Stanislaus National Forest Supervisor Susan Skalski said the process has been “expedited” over the past nine months.

This past April, Skalski signed off on the smaller “Rim Fire Hazard Trees Environmental Assessment,” which allowed for tree removal along high use roads, and on 1,329 acres near developed facilities.

This second plan will address salvage logging, and recovery, in the vast areas well off the beaten path.  The Rim Fire burned over 257,000 acres.