Clark County transfers more than 700 logs from Spud Mountain to East Fork Lewis River reconnection project

Clark County completed a forest-health thinning this summer at Spud Mountain and transferred more than 700 logs to an East Fork Lewis River reconnection and habitat-restoration project, county staff said.

County staff described the work as part of the county's sustainable forestry program, which they said covers about 4,500 acres and seeks certification from the Forest Stewardship Council and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. "As part of the county's sustainable forestry program, the latest forest health thinning activity was completed this summer at Spud Mountain," a county staff member said.

The county said a previously completed inventory recommended thinning eight to 10 years after that assessment, and a follow-up evaluation indicated it was time to act. "When I came onto the county about 9 years ago, I did an inventory on our Spud Mountain property, and that indicated that we should do a thinning in between 8 to 10 years from then," a county staff member said.

County staff and the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership described two linked goals for the work: reduce wildfire risk on county forestland and use…