JOHN DAY – The Forest Service has announced a new plan for the Thorn fire salvage project.

Gary L. Benes, Malheur National Forest supervisor, announced the decision to implement a new alternative in a legal notice published in the current issue, dated March 12, of the Blue Mountain Eagle.

Alternative #3 calls for commercial salvage on some 2,500 acres of the fire area. Of that, about 85 percent would be helicopter-logged.

The project also would include removal of “danger trees” along about 24 miles of roads outside the salvage areas, and reforestation of 3,700 acres.

In announcing the option, Benes said the plan is the best option to get economic benefits from the burned timber “while protecting the majority of the burned area from disturbance.”

The option is the second attempt at putting together a salvage operation for the area.

The proposed salvage sale would occur on land burned in the 2006 Shake Table Fire, about 20 miles southwest of John Day. The fire burned over 14,000 acres, but the sale was proposed for a much smaller area.

Last year, the Forest Service proposed salvage by helicopter on 3,411 acres and by ground-based yarding on another 496 acres.

However, the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) drew concerns about impacts on areas with roadless characteristics and on bird habitat.

That sent Forest officials back to the drawing board to design alternatives to deal with those issues.