Forest Service tackling remains of ice storm on NWTNTODAY.COM

GOLDEN POND, Ky. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service plan for dealing with the ravages of last winter’s ice storm at Land Between the Lakes includes debris removal and letting nature take its course. Ice damage assessment team leader Trent Girard tells The Paducah Sun the different parts of the recreation area are being assessed before action is taken to clean up the forest. Girard said surveyors have found moderate or greater damage in most sections of the recreation area, which covers parts of western Kentucky and Tennessee. Of the damaged areas, about 22,000 acres in the northernmost part of the area in Kentucky were selected for possible recovery projects because of high recreational and visitor use. Pat Fowler, LBL environmental stewardship manager, said strategies for restoration will call for detailed environmental assessments specific to each site. That could take more than a year, Fowler said. “Then we’ll have to have public scoping for each, after which we will refine the plans based on public comments,” Fowler said. Machines may be brought in to remove downed limbs, tree tops and fallen trees in some areas, with some debris eventually supplying proposed biomass fuel plants for which grants have been announced in Lyon and Trigg counties, Girard said. Forester Jamie Hernandez said much broken wood remains on trees and could be useful as biomass fuel for years. He said dangerous hanging debris could be selectively removed and used for fuel. The ice storm, which shut down parts of the state for days in January, destroyed the forest canopy, allowing more sunlight to the ground and triggering growth along the forest floor. Girard said controlled burns may be used to stem the growth of young shade-tolerant, less wildlife-friendly tree species and favor more fire-resilient species of oaks and hickories that provide better wildlife habitat. “That would be a primary strategy, prescribed burns to favor new growth of mast-bearing trees over the maples and black gums and some of the others that don’t support wildlife as well,” he said. Published in The Messenger 11.09.09