Idaho Land Leaders' Summit
The Idaho Land Leaders' Summit was held in northern Idaho last week. State and local elected officials along with Idaho forest products industry representatives, were immersed in forestry and fire issues important to Idaho, local governments and industry. This event presents a rare opportunity to see public policy in action and discuss its impact on Idaho’s economy and citizens.
The Idaho Land Leaders’ Summit was cohosted by the Idaho Department of Lands and the state’s forest products industry.
The tour featured an industry-sponsored tour and panel discussion about economic trends, and visits to a number of locations for in-depth discussion of issues:
The Albeni Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) Project began with a timber sale purchased by Stimson Lumber, who went above and beyond with additional mastication work that was not required by the contract. Later, when the Mercy Fire started in this area, Stimson's fuel treatment played a pivotal role in helping IDL suppress the fire quickly before it could spread. This tour stop provided an overview of the GNA timber sale and explain how Stimson’s good stewardship dovetails with other work across GNA Scattered Lands in Idaho.
Sheep Springs Timber Sale
Idaho’s forest products industry contributes $2.5 billion to Idaho’s economy annually. IDL’s Sheep Springs Timber Sale is one example of how IDL helps supply nearly a third of the fiber and sawlogs that Idaho’s forest products industry uses. This tour stop provided an overview of IDL’s original intent for the Sheep Springs Timber Sale, explained the impact of a devastating wind event and gave a status update about regeneration on the parcel. From this location tour participants saw the Clagstone Meadows Forest Legacy Project. Other topics of discussion included endowment land management and endowment land timber harvest levels.
On August 15, 2023, the Sarah Loop Fire started near Athol among homes built in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). IDL’s aggressive response and saved many homes from certain destruction. This tour stop recapped the fire from its point of ignition through containment and encouraged discussions about the challenges of fighting fire in the WUI, the impact of maintained vs. unmaintained properties on fire behavior and the crucial need for air support for fire suppression. There was also discussion about how IDL’s Shared Stewardship Program helps forest landowners conduct fuel treatments, and how the agency's fire prevention efforts help promote personal responsibility for those who live in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI).
Stimson Cabin at Clagstone Meadows
IDL's Forest Legacy Program was discussed over box lunches at the Stimson Cabin at Clagstone Meadows. Participants learned about Clagstone Meadows, why Stimson opted to enroll their property in the program, and the perpetual harvests of sawlogs and fiber the property will produce.
Idaho's forest products industry currently requires approximately 1 billion board feet of fiber annually. Two-thirds of this fiber supply is not assured for the long term and may be threatened by federal policy changes or development in the future.
IDL understands that endowment timberland produces revenue because the industrial infrastructure to manufacture endowment-grown trees into value-added products exists in here in Idaho. If the fiber supply is threatened and mill capacity shrinks, revenue from endowment timber harvests will diminish.
Within the next five years officials anticipate that private industrial forestland voluntarily enrolled in Forest Legacy will increase from the current 100,000 acres to more than 350,000 acres. At this increased level, it is estimated that between 10 to 15 percent of Idaho's fiber supply will be secured for use now and into the future. This secured supply, along with the 33% of fiber supplied from endowment land, will help ensure Idaho's forest products industry can continue to operate well into the future - providing citizens with good jobs and purchasing endowment timber sales.
Idaho Forest Group, Chilco Mill
Idaho Forest Group’s Chilco Mill is a 248-acre facility located just north of Coeur d’Alene. During this tour stop participants toured the facility and learned how this technologically advanced mill produces up to 280 million board feet of lumber per year with dimensions ranging from 2×4 through 2×12 up to 20-foot long. The customers of products produced at this mill include major home centers, construction suppliers and retailers across North America and the globe.
Director Miller Meets New Idaho Panhandle National Forest Supervisor
Last week Director Miller and team members from IDL's Coeur d'Alene Staff Office met with the new Idaho Panhandle National Forest Supervisor Tim Giloon and Deputy Regional Forester for USFS Region 1Tim Garcia.
The group discussed issues important to both Idaho and the Forest Service including Good Neighbor Authority projects, fire suppression and the Forest Legacy Program. The federal Wildfire Crisis Strategy was also discussed with the conversation focusing on how to increase fuels treatments on USFS land in Region 1.
Quagga Mussel Town Hall Meeting
On Sunday, October 1, staff from the Idaho State Department of Agriculture hosted a townhall meeting in Twin Falls to discuss plans to treat a six-mile stretch of the Snake River near Twin Falls.
The agency designed a plan rooted in science to safely and effectively eradicate highly invasive quagga mussels from the river.
ISDA has worked quickly to implement an aggressive response and this townhall meeting provided stakeholders an opportunity to ask questions about the plan. About 60 citizens and officials attended the meeting and 560 watched the livestream.
The treatment protocol began on Tuesday, October 3, and will continue for 10 days.
IDL helped support ISDA's public information campaign by advising on communication issues and producing videos that conveyed important messages. Additionally, IDL activated a popup message on its website that encouraged citizens to learn how they can help prevent the spread of quagga mussels.
WATCH THE ISDA TOWNHALL MEETING TO LEARN MORE
Miller Visits IDL Priest Lake Supervisory Area
On Tuesday, October 4, Director Miller visited IDL's Priest Lake area. He met with the area's manager, Dan Brown, and other team members.
During the visit Miller toured an active timber sale and inspected a bridge replacement underway for a different timber sale. IDL builds and maintains roads used for timber harvest by packaging development credits with timber sale contracts, paying contractors for road work specified by the agency.
The team also discussed the impacts of increased recreation in the area. Staff identified opportunities for IDL to work with other state agencies to increase opportunities for and access to camping, which could also generate additional revenue for the endowment beneficiaries.
IDL Scaling Program Success
Emily Barbe and Opal Frazier, trainees in the IDL scaling program, successfully passed their scaling licensure exam on September 29th. Achieving this milestone required them to pass the Idaho Board of Scaling Practices rollout of 200 logs with their gross and net volumes falling within plus or minus 2% of the acceptable range. They also had to identify the species of the rollout logs with 97% or better accuracy.
The scaling licensure exam has an average pass rate of only 48%, making their accomplishment even more impressive! IDL is proud of their dedication and commitment.
Current IDL scalers mentored and trained three trainees this year – the third, Brendan McMinn, passed the IBSP licensure exam May 18, 2023.
The role of IDL scalers is pivotal in fulfilling the department's endowment mission to generate the maximum long term return because they are responsible for precisely measuring logs delivered to mills for payment to IDL. Their expertise ensured the accurate measurement of 52,255 loads, with 6,880 of them being scaled on endowment timber sales for fiscal year 2023. This contributed significantly to a total revenue of $74 million. Their work plays a vital role in our organization's success and the responsible management of our resources to the beneficiaries.
The scaling program is always recruiting new trainees who are interested in learning to scale and work toward obtaining their scaling license through IBSP. Anyone interested in a potential trainee position can contact Shannon McCormick - smccormick@idl.idaho.gov or 208-666-8641.
Miller Visits IDL Pend Oreille Lake Supervisory Area
On Thursday, October 12, Director Miller met with Erik Sjoquist and his team at the Pend Oreille Lake Supervisory Area office in Sandpoint.
During the visit learned about public trust issues in the area. Public trust land is comprised of the beds of navigable waterways that Idaho received at statehood and is managed according to the Public Trust Doctrine. Unlike endowment land, public trust land benefits all Idahoans and does not have a mandate to generate revenue. Endowment land exists to generate revenue for specific groups of beneficiaries.
The team also discussed the impacts of ever-increasing recreation on endowment land, mitigating those impacts and opportunities to monetize recreation on endowment land.
Miller Attends U of I College of Natural Resources Board Meeting
On Friday, October 13, Director Miller attended the University of Idaho's College of Natural Resources (CNR) board meeting. Miller serves on the CNR board which meets twice annually.
During the meeting, a variety of faculty and staff members provided updates about initiatives underway at the college. IDL was pleased to learn about the successful implementation of the college's three new associate degree programs for forest operations, nursery management and wildland fire management. Staff reported that enrollment in the new programs is increasing.
Construction is also underway on two new greenhouses at the university's Franklin H. Pitkin Forest Nursery. The nursery currently produces nearly 500,000 seedlings annually, including over 70 species of conifers, hardwoods and shrubs. It is a hands-on teaching facility that provides student-employees the opportunity to learn all aspects of nursery production and management, as well as to understand the processes of selecting seedlings for restoration and reforestation.
IDL Recognizes National Logger's Day
Thursday, October 12, was National Loggers Day! Loggers play a critical role in endowment forestry and forest health. IDL expressed its thanks to Idaho's loggers via social media.
WATCH AND SHARE THE FACEBOOK REEL (VIDEO)
Secretary McGrane to Visit Fire Cache, Sarah Loop Fire Next Week
On Thursday, October 19, Secretary of State and Land Board member Phil McGrane will visit IDL's fire cache in Coeur d'Alene and tour the site of the Sarah Loop Fire near Athol.
PPE Keeps IDL Employees Safe
Some may question if personal protective equipment, PPE, is really necessary. We know it is!
This season during an IDL fire, a team member experienced an incident involving a chainsaw.
Thankfully, injury was averted because the employee was wearing chaps while sawing. This incident demonstrated how PPE can provide important safety protection.
The damage may not look like much on the chaps, but imagine if that was someone's leg. Fortunately, Kevlar chainsaw chaps are designed to provide protection from a chain speed of up to 3,200 feet per minute without cutting through.
IDL encourages employees not to take the use of PPE lightly or for granted. There is a reason IDL provides PPE that has been specifically designed for use during activities can pose risks. Keeping team members safe is our top priority!
While workplace hazards can never be fully eliminated, we can take precautions to avoid injury like providing and wearing the proper PPE, and training.
IDL GIS Launches New Newsletter
IDL's GIS shop recently invited users who used the agency's GIS products to join a new, internal mailing list. By opting into this email list subscribers will receive updates, maintenance and outage notifications and other important news about GIS services IDL provides.
Starting now, periodic GIS Notifications will ONLY be sent to subscribers. To stay in the know, sign up to receive GIS Notifications today!
Why Subscribe to the GIS email list?
- Stay informed of the latest developments, enhancements and new features within our program
- Receive timely alerts about planned maintenance and unexpected outages
- Gain access to helpful resources, tutorials and tips to maximize your GIS experience
How to Subscribe?
In Case You Missed It
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