Gifford Pinchot officials brief Lewis County on timber plans, Spirit Lake safety and road projects

Johanna Kovarik, Forest Supervisor for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, updated the Lewis County Board of County Commissioners on March 25 on wildfire outlook, forest planning and local projects that will affect timber supplies and travel corridors in the county.

Kovarik said the Northwest geographic area is "expected to have a normal or low significant fire potential through June," and described several planning and implementation efforts now underway across the forest. "We're hoping to get the draft out for comment, fairly soon," she said of the forest-wide plantation-thinning environmental assessment that covers roughly 156,000 acres of plantations under 80 years old and about 500 miles of potential control-line treatments.

The plantation-thinning and potential control-line (PCL) effort is intended to increase wildfire management options and to produce timber for sale. Kovarik said the first sales from that project are likely in fiscal year 2027, "coming from the East Fork Lewis area near Kalama." She also told commissioners that on March 19 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed what Kovarik described as "the largest programmatic biological opinion in the state of Washington" covering commercial plantation thinning, fuels reduction, routine road and trail maintenance, and special-use permitting for several national forests. Kovarik said the programmatic biological opinion should help move projects forward more rapidly.

Teresa Tanner, district ranger for the Cowlitz Valley Ranger District, said the Yellowjacket environmental assessment is complete and that timber sales tied to it are beginning to be offered. "For fiscal year '25, we're looking at 1 Forest Service sale and 3 more through DNR using our good neighbor authority or GNA," she said, estimating roughly 13,000,000 board feet for FY25 and about 14,500,000 board feet tied to Yellowjacket for FY26. Tanner said the forest-wide plantation-thinning EA could support substantially higher annual volumes once implemented.

The supervisors also reviewed transportation and infrastructure investments affecting Lewis County communities. Tanner described the Skate Creek Road project as a major corridor investment with roughly $4,100,000 spent to date, including replacement of 13 culverts, 53 deep‑patch repairs to the roadbed, construction of a mechanically stabilized earth wall and about 1.5 miles of new asphalt. She said repair work at Elk Pass on Forest Service Road 25 — a roughly $4,000,000 project — should be completed by August, and a Huffaker–Bridal replacement project near Iron Creek Campground will cost about $5,000,000 and could cause closures for most of the summer.

Kovarik said the forest is coordinating with Washington State Department of Natural Resources on planning and implementation and is evaluating different partnership models to increase delivery of timber sales. She also described ongoing work on Spirit Lake: the forest and partners have moved toward a nationally standardized emergency action plan after the South Coldwater slide in May 2023, held a tabletop exercise with county and federal partners, and are conducting pre‑NEPA stakeholder engagement for the Spirit Lake Outflow Safety Improvement Project. The notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement was issued in September 2024, and Kovarik said the record of decision is scheduled by the end of 2025. She noted a virtual public meeting was scheduled for the evening following the March 25 county meeting.

Why this matters: the planning decisions, road repairs and emergency‑planning work affect timber supply, seasonal access for residents and recreation users, and public‑safety preparations tied to Spirit Lake. Several projects also carry multi‑million‑dollar implementation costs and require coordination with state and federal partners.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions; no formal county action was taken on forest projects during the briefing. Kovarik and Tanner described the near‑term schedule for public comment and sale offerings and said more detailed NEPA documents and maps will be posted online as they become available.

Closing notes: Kovarik thanked the county for participation in Spirit Lake planning and said the forest values its working relationship with DNR and other partners as projects advance.