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(Boise) – The Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) has awarded the Lava Roadside Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) Salvage Timber Sale to Idaho Forest Group.
The project follows the 2024 Lava Fire, which burned approximately 23,000 acres on the Payette National Forest’s Council Ranger District. Salvage operations will occur along roughly 14 miles of system roads south of the Little Weiser River between Sheep Creek and Fourbit Creek. Treatment areas include the 50718 (Fourbit Creek), 568, 665, 802, 50180 (Sheep Creek), 800, and 50311 roads.
In total, commercial harvest will occur on about 309 acres along these roads. An estimated 8,389 tons of fire-damaged timber will be removed. This work will reduce future road maintenance needs and contribute to increased timber supply in support of Executive Order 14225, Immediate Expansion of American Timber Industry.
Salvage operations are expected to begin in the coming weeks and continue through the fall.
“This project reflects how IDL and the U.S. Forest Service can work together through the Good Neighbor Authority to restore forest health and reduce hazardous fuels,” said Jon Songster, IDL's GNA Bureau Chief. “By working in partnership, we are not only improving public safety along these travel corridors but also supporting Idaho’s timber industry.”
“Our Good Neighbor Authority agreement with the Idaho Department of Lands allows us to get this work done in a very short timeframe and is a win for the local communities, the State of Idaho, and the Forest Service,” said Paul Klasner, Council and Weiser District Ranger. “This partnership has allowed us to reduce future maintenance needs along roads and recover some of the value from commercially valuable timber. I appreciate everyone’s hard work to make this happen.”
GNA allows IDL to use state personnel and contracting processes to support the U.S. Forest Service with forest restoration activities, including fuels reduction and salvage harvests. IDL has partnered with the Payette National Forest through GNA since 2016, helping to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration work across Idaho.
This GNA restoration effort also comes on the heels of several years of IDL, the Payette National Forest and Adams County joining with multiple partners to carry out hazardous fuels mitigation operations on thousands of acres of private forestlands in Adams County, buffering homes and communities on the east side of this part of the wildfire. These cross-boundary projects reflect how IDL, the USDA Forest Service, counties and multiple partnering agencies can work together to restore forest health and reduce hazardous fuels.
Note for photos: As part of the salvage sale, a temporary low water stream crossing was installed because the Fourbit bridge burned during the Lava fire. This stream crossing is critical for log hauling related to this salvage sale. The Payette National Forest designed and installed the crossing last week, IDL provided 340 cubic yards of rock needed to construct the stream crossing.
photos by Greg Tyler, IDL GNA Program Manager
 The burnt bridge and area of the temporary stream crossing before construction, photo by Greg Tyler
 The road approaching the low water crossing after it was installed, photo by Greg Tyler
 The completed temporary stream crossing, photo by Greg Tyler
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