Final Environmental Impact Statement Rio de los Pinos Vegetation ...

Final Environmental Impact Statement Rio de los Pinos Vegetation Management Project
opportunities and services provided by local businesses have made recreation a very important
component of the local economy.
The National Forest lands continue to be an important source of firewood and an important
source of special forest products for the local population. Livestock grazing has also remained an
important component of the local economy. Many of the local ranchers graze cattle and sheep on
Forest Service allotments in Conejos County.
National Forest lands have also continued to be utilized for their hunting and fishing resources.
These resource users contribute to local economy during the summer and fall months and support
the Colorado Division of Wildlife through license fees.
Timber harvesting and other forest management activities such as tree planting have continued in
the area. These activities have had mixed benefits to the local population; some timber sales have
been purchased by local mills that generally utilize local contractors for logging operation, other
sales have been purchased by mills from outside the local area, sometimes these mills contract
with local contractors.
National Forest lands continue to be an important source of sawtimber for the timber industry in
Colorado. Many of the commercial timber lands in the state of Colorado are in public ownership
and the availability of private sawtimber is limited. There are roughly 988,000 acres of National
Forest land designated for timber emphasis in Forest Plans in Colorado. About 3.4 million acres
of State and private forest lands in Colorado are commercial timber lands, although many of the
lands in private ownership are not managed for timber production or are subdivided and
developed.
Since National Forest Lands make up a large portion of the commercial timberlands in Colorado
that are managed in part for wood production, federal timber plays a fundamental role in
sustaining Colorado’s timber industry. In 1999, 109.8 million board feet (MMBF) of timber was
harvested in Colorado. Of the 109.8 MMBF harvested, 51.5 MMBF, or 46.9% of the harvest,
occurred on USFS lands (Lynch and Mackes 2001). Timber use in Colorado mills totaled
196,450 Ccf in 2005 (approximately 98.2 MMBF), taking into account wood provided to
industry by both public and private sources (Rocky Mountain Region, USDA Forest Service,
2006). During the period between 2003 and 2005, the Forest Service provided 52.4% of the
84,000 ccf milled annually at Intermountain Resources, LLC, of Montrose, CO, Colorado’s
largest currently operating sawmill (Rocky Mountain Region, USDA Forest Service, 2006). As a
whole, Colorado mills and other buyers purchased 27.6% of their material from National Forests.
This number cannot be directly compared to the figure cited by Lynch and Mackes (2001), as
this percentage may include utilization and purchases from outside Colorado, though from both
figures presented, it is apparent that the USFS is active in supporting Colorado’s timber industry.
Chapter 3 – Affected Environment & Environmental Consequences Page 3-91