CRAWFORDVILLE, Fla., (Oct. 29, 2018) -
What’s open and what’s closed?
The general forest area in the Wakulla Ranger District of the Apalachicola National Forest, the area of the Forest east of the Ochlockonee River, is open although developed recreation sites and trails in that area are closed. Pine Creek, Buckhorn, Brown House, Otter, Pope Still, Wood Lake and Mack Landing hunt camps, undeveloped camping areas, have been certified as safe and are now open to the public. The Apalachicola Shooting Range is open. The Apalachicola Ranger District west of the river remains closed. All roads with fallen trees across them are closed.
Recovery Team Progress
Roads: Workers have cleared 452 of 716 miles of Forest-maintained roads. Previous totals of road miles in the Forest included roads that are maintained by the state. Work will continue using saw teams working in tandem with heavy equipment such as excavators, masticators, tractor plows, feller bunchers and loaders. Priority areas are roads leading to hunt camps and timber sale areas. Crews are also clearing roads to helicopter landing areas and red-cockaded woodpecker clusters needing assessment.
Recreation: Almost 90 percent of 74 recreation sites have been assessed and 22 miles of 205 miles of trails cleared. Opening more hunt camps is the focus of recreation work. Most have been assessed and those not open need hazard tree and limb removal. Chipping operations to mulch fallen branches in recreation sites will continue today.
Threatened and endangered species: Teams of biologists have assessed 533 out of 960 red-cockaded woodpecker roost tree clusters. As assessments near completion, the focus will shift to inserting artificial cavities in an estimated 30 percent of clusters that will need them.
Timber: Workers are preparing to mark boundaries and trees for timber salvage operations. Three active timber sales totaling 6,000 acres were significantly damaged. Many acres of timber not under contract were also damaged and potentially available for salvage sales, including 19,000 acres west of state highway 65. Timber harvest experts will evaluate the Chipola Experimental Forest, heavily damaged by the hurricane, for potential salvage harvest. Bulldozers and a saw team began opening roads in that area yesterday and will continue today.
Wildfire Risk: About 21 of 473 miles of fireline have been cleared of woody debris downed by the hurricane and work will continue to clear the lines.
How to stay safe in the Forest: Many roads in the area remain blocked by fallen trees and anyone in the Forest should use extreme caution as leaning and broken trees and limbs are significant safety hazards. Under no circumstance should members of the public try to clear fallen or leaning trees from Forest Service lands. Doing so requires specialized training and supervision and poses a significant safety risk to those carrying out such actions. It could also slow operations of assessment and road-clearing teams. Archery season for deer and turkey is open, so visitors in open areas of the Forest should be aware that hunters may be in the woods. Visitors should also watch for heavy equipment such as excavators, masticators and feller bunchers on roads and maintain a safe distance from them when they are in use.
The Osceola and Ocala National Forests remain open. They, and other national forests in the Southern Region unaffected by Hurricanes Michael and Florence, will continue to waive fees at campgrounds and concessionaire-managed sites for evacuees and displaced individuals from both storms.
Photo: Road clearing begins at the Chipola Experimental Forest. Credit: Jeray A. Norman/USFS
-USDA-
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