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Healthy Forests Success Story

The Bench Stewardship Project
Bighorn National Forest
July 2009

Project Description

Bighorn National Forest scene.
Bighorn National Forest scene.

The main goal of the Bighorn Bench Stewardship Project, located on the Paintrock Ranger District in Wyoming, is to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires in a municipal watershed, which supplies clean drinking water to the communities of Shell and Greybull Wyoming. The increased fire hazard is associated with mortality from a Douglas-fir bark beetle epidemic, which has resulted in high fuel loadings.

A heavy bark beetle infestation has already killed approximately 85 percent of the mature Douglas-fir on several hundred acres adjacent to the Bighorn Scenic Byway, the Shell Canyon Visitor Center, and a major tourist route to Yellowstone National Park. As the beetle infestation moves up canyon, values at risk include water quality, campgrounds, cabins, lodges, mature dry Douglas-fir ecosystems and long-term forest diversity.

Ideas for the project began in 2004 immediately after Senator Mike Enzi of Wyoming expressed his concern over “more and more red trees.” Currently, the project is in its implementation stage, with the stewardship contract completed and preparation ongoing for prescribed burning this fall.

Collaboration Success

Field trip participants.
Field trip participants came by foot, horseback, and mountain bike.

The Bench Project has received ongoing public interest and support for reducing fire risk and restoring a sustainable ecosystem structure. Collaboration has helped guide the development of the proposal and address several concerns.

Collaborative partners have included local individuals, private landowners, ranchers, local businesses, resort owners, a mountain biking group, conservation groups, commissioners, state agencies, county government and local forestry consultants. The Bench Project has been used as a successful example to showcase how HFRA projects work.

  • Numerous field trips were taken to the project site throughout the process.
  • Firewise meetings with collaborators were held during implementation to discuss the project, what was good and bad about it, and whether collaborators liked the look of the project and still supported it.
  • Many concerns were successfully addressed through collaboration efforts and the project received no objections.

Bench Project helicopter logging.
Bench Project helicopter logging.

Lessons Learned

  • There was a big learning curve being the first Stewardship Contract on the forest.
  • A local sawmill company proposed using helicopters in some areas, which addressed concerns about soil and sediment movement and helped collaborators feel comfortable with the project.
  • The Bench Project helped the local sawmill stay in business a little longer in spite of a depressed market.
  • Chris Thomas, the Program Manager, credits local homeowners for trusting the Forest Service, especially with concerns about the project’s affect on the view behind their homes. The project turned out great and now it serves as a showcase for other sites.

Bench Stewardship Project scene.
Bench Stewardship Project scene.

For More Information

Contact Bighorn National Forest

Chris Thomas, Program Manager
(301) 674-2686
cthomas@fs.fed.us