Forest engineer warns staffing freeze limits road maintenance across Manti forest

Daniel Luke, the Manti forest engineer, told the Emery County Public Lands Council that a prolonged hiring freeze and retirements have left the forest road program operating at roughly 40% of its intended operator staff, limiting routine maintenance and constraining improvements tied to timber-sale funding.

Luke said the forest manages about 2,230 miles of roads, roughly 290 of which are gravel, and that Emery County typically maintains about 90 miles through Schedule A agreements that allow counties to claim those miles for state gas-tax funding. He said the forest’s road program receives about $500,000 in appropriated funds, supports six heavy-equipment pieces and budgets for 10 operator positions; currently four operator positions are filled and the supervisor slot is filled. After payroll and…