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 equipment costs, Luke said about $80,000 remains annually for supplies such as culverts and cattle guards.

The engineer described several active and upcoming improvement projects. Crews are rebuilding a bottom section of Spring City Canyon to accommodate log trucks (work on the lower 6 miles, with the upper 2 miles previously completed). Post-fire funding repaired Veil/Fort Canyon access and surfacing will follow when crushed rock arrives. Joe’s Valley Campground is under contract for repaving and site reconfiguration with a contractor deadline around June 20, Luke said. He also noted a multi-year Canyon Timber/Black Canyon effort that has funneled roughly $6 million into roads between Huntington Canyon and Orangeville over the last four years.

Council members asked whether timber-sale work reduces routine maintenance capacity. Luke said timber-sale improvements are paid from different funds (regional and Washington-office proposals) and that once built, purchasers are typically responsible for ongoing maintenance, but preparing roads for logging requires upfront work (widening, drainage and surfacing) that ties up operators. He added that the region provided about $300,000 toward some timber-sale preparation this year.

Luke said an agreement with the Bureau of Land Management provides winter funding and keeps machinery and operators active for about two months each year, which staff use for pond rehabilitation on allotments and other winter tasks.

He emphasized NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and professional-staff constraints: staff departures and retirements have reduced in-house capacity for contract administration and technical compliance, slowing some projects. On prescribed burns, Luke said the forest has deferred spring burns this year and may consider fall work depending on weather and conditions.

Council members praised the forest crew for local coordination and urged the council to consider letters or advocacy to address hiring constraints. Luke and county members described the limitations of the current hiring environment — some internal hires are possible only when staff move from other forests — and said expanding capacity will take time.

The council received Luke’s report and asked follow-up questions about in-house versus contracted work, the timing of surfacing for post-fire roads and the schedule for campground projects. Chair closed the segment with thanks to Luke for the presentation.