Big Larch vegetation treatment complete

SEELEY LAKE – After being closed for the summer, the Big Larch Campground vegetation treatment is complete and the log decks are in the process of being sold. Around 90 log truck loads of Douglas-fir, many of which were 20 inches in diameter or larger, were removed as well as incidental amounts of subalpine fir and spruce in the nearly 40 acres that were treated.

The Seeley Lake Ranger District has been cutting down between 80 and 100 hazardous trees in Big Larch Campground for the last three years. This past year extensive Douglas- fir blowdown occurred within the campground where root systems were weakened by root rot.

According to District Ranger Rachel Feigley, Phaeolus schweinitzii is a root and butt rot and is a major disease of older trees. It causes decay of the roots and lower stem and the resulting strength loss predisposes trees to windthrow and breakage.

"Trees do not typically show outward symptoms, so the presence of disease is usually not readily evident until windthrow becomes common like it has been over several years," wrote Feigley in an email.

Rot was not the only cause of mortality in the Big Larch Campground. Douglas-fir bark beetle presence and ongoing mortality was also occurring within the campsites. Douglas-fir trees that have been killed by Douglas-fir beetle take a year to exhibit crown symptoms and by the time crown fading is visible, the beetles have flown and attacked new adjacent host trees.

The Douglas-fir beetle population had escalated within the Big Larch Campground due to extreme bark beetle risk. The Douglas-fir size, density, age, condition, root and butt rot infection are all reasons for the increasing levels mortality throughout Big Larch Campground.

Due to the escalating insect and disease, the risk to public safety also increased. Many trees fell in Big Larch Campground during the time the contract was being prepared and in areas adjacent to the treatment. Trees can cause extensive damage to private property as well as cause injury to people. Feigley pointed to the windthrow that occurred in the Lake Alva Campground during the summer of 2017. Trees fell on campers and one caused extensive damage to the trailer that had a baby inside.

The logging operation to remove the Douglas-fir in Big Larch Campground lasted four weeks. The work included falling and decking the cut trees while protecting all the campground infrastructure including picnic tables, water spigots, fire rings, signs, outhouses, etc.

The contractor piled the slash as they processed the logs. The piles in the campsite loops will be covered to maintain a dry core over the winter. They will be burned in the spring when the burn window opens. The slash piles outside of the campsite loops will be burned in the fall of 2019.

Feigley said the District plans on planting pine and larch in 2020.

All of the large larch trees in the campground, except one, remain. The one that was cut had a heavy lean over a campsite posing an immediate hazard.

Feigley said larch are long lived and have a very robust and deep root system and do very well when they are fully exposed. The species has evolved over millennia to have these characteristics to ensure its survival in an open environment. While there is still the possibility that one will blow over, they are not as prone to it as other species, like lodgepole, that are exposed. Larch also have an open crown that is less likely to catch wind and loses its needles so snow loading isn't a problem.

"After the first winter, the likelihood of blow down will decrease dramatically," wrote Feigley.

The deck sale should be advertised in November. All of the logs and clean-up work will be completed by May 2019 and the campground will open on schedule Memorial Day weekend.