Monday, December 23, 2019

APA approves Lyme Timber Co. timber harvest

Lyme Timber Company


APA approves Lyme Timber Co. timber harvest
By PETE KLEIN
RAY BROOK--On December 12 New York State Adirondack Park Agency met and consider a request from Lyme Timber Company to approve a logging operation in Arietta and Lake Pleasant.
After hearing a presentation on the proposal. APA Commissioner and Town of Lake Pleasant Supervisor Dan Wilt moved to approve the proposal as follows:
To Timber harvest on 643 acres of Lyme’s 14,379-acre Perkins Clearing Tract, consisting of two treatments: 509 acres of shelterwood overstory removal, to release a fully regenerated understory, and remove a deteriorating overstory; and 134 acres of free thinning, to harvest mature overstory trees to concentrate sunlight and resources on crop trees. The project site is within a New York State Working Forest Conservation Easement and is certified to both the Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative standards.
The full APA Board of Commissioners approved.
This permit authorizes a timber harvest in an area classified Resource Management on the Adirondack Park Land Use and Development Plan Map in the Towns of Arietta and Lake Pleasant, Hamilton County.
The project shall not be undertaken or continued unless the project authorized herein is in existence within four years from the date the permit is recorded. The Agency will consider the project in existence when the timber harvest is complete as conditioned herein.
The project shall be undertaken in compliance with all conditions stated herein. Failure to comply with this permit is a violation and may subject the permittee, successors, and assigns to civil penalties and other legal proceedings.
This permit does not convey any right to trespass upon the lands or interfere with the riparian rights of others in order to undertake the authorized project, nor does it authorize the impairment of any easement, right, title or interest in real or personal property.
Nothing contained in this permit shall be construed to satisfy any legal obligations of the permittee to comply with all applicable laws and regulations or to obtain any governmental approval or permit from any entity other than the Agency, whether federal, State, regional or local.
PROJECT SITE
The project site a 643± acre portion of 14,379 contiguously owned acres of forestland, known as the Perkins Clearing Conservation Easement, in the Towns of Arietta and Lake Pleasant, Hamilton County, in an area classified Resource Management on the Adirondack Park Land Use and Development Plan Map. The project site is situated on portions of three tax map parcels, as follows:
Town of Arietta Tax Map Section 103, Block 1 as Parcel 44.1; Town of Arietta Tax Map Section 95, Block 1 as Parcel 19.1, and;
Town of Lake Pleasant Tax Map Section 96, Block 1 as Parcel 15.1.
The site is described in a deed from SP Forests, LLC to Lyme Adirondack Timberlands II, LLC (“permittee” or “Lyme”), dated August 16, 2006, and recorded September 1, 2006 in the Hamilton County Clerk's Office at Book 237, Page 832.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The project as conditionally approved herein involves timber harvesting on 643± acres, consisting of two discrete silvicultural treatments based upon stand conditions and desired outcomes, described in detail below.
1. Shelterwood removal with reserves (509± acres): This stand was last treated in 2010 with a shelterwood establishment harvest. The overstory basal area is 66 ft2 per acre, primarily comprised of mature sawtimber and unacceptable growing stock. The species composition is mixed northern hardwoods, including 38% beech, 30% sugar maple, 15% yellow birch, 5% red maple, and 5% spruce. 58% of the trees sampled (and 100% of the beech) were unacceptable growing stock due to damage, disease, dieback, and poor form.
The understory regeneration averages 3978 stems per acre between 1- and 5.5-inches diameter at breast height (dbh), comprised of 46% sugar maple, 23% beech and 13% yellow birch.
The goal of this treatment is to release the fully stocked understory of desirable northern hardwood stems. Overstory stems will be removed to provide sunlight and resources to the understory. Reserves will include all acceptable growing stock (future crop trees) less than 6 inches dbh and small sawtimber sugar maple and birch trees 10-14 inches dbh with healthy crowns and no damage.
2. Free thinning (134± acres): This stand was last treated in 2006 and/or 2010 with a free thinning. The overstory basal area is 93 ft2/acre is composed of beech, sugar maple, yellow birch, white ash, cherry, spruce and fir. As this is a thinning and not a regeneration harvest, the understory was not sampled.
The goal of this treatment is to provide ideal growing conditions for healthy, vigorous crop trees. Mature sugar maple, birch and cherry will be harvested. Beech, ash and unacceptable growing stock displaying poor form, disease, canker and dying tops will be harvested to capture mortality. The target residual basal area is 65 ft2/acre.
The property is subject to a NYS Working Forest Conservation Easement and is certified to the Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative standards. The Forest Management Plan for the project site includes a physical description of the area and forest types as well as forest management goals, objectives, and strategies. The plan addresses the maintenance and protection of biodiversity as well as conservation zones and protection areas. Soil disturbance, aesthetic guidelines, an integrated forest pest management plan, and implementation of “New York State Forestry Best Management Practices for Water Quality” are also included in the plan.
The harvest boundaries will be field delineated by a professional forester. A logging crew under contract to the project sponsor will undertake the harvest, under regular supervision of the forester.
The harvest will be undertaken using standard mechanized logging equipment. Felling will be done using a tracked feller-buncher. A grapple skidder will transport logs to the landing. Saw logs will be loaded on a log truck, which will transport them to a log concentration yard. Pulp wood will be chipped on-site and transported off-site by truck.
No new roads are proposed. Existing landings will be used. Existing skidder trails will be re-used where possible. New and existing skidder trails and landings will be established and maintained in accordance with New York State Best Management Practices for Water Quality, and Lyme’s Soil Disturbance Guidelines document contained within the Forest Management Plan.
Special care will be taken to protect existing and potential snag, den, and cavity trees throughout the project site whenever possible.
Streams within the project site, and wetlands adjacent to the project site will be buffered in accordance with the Forest Management Plan, and consistent with NYS Forestry Best Management Practices for Water Quality.
Control and monitoring of invasive species are addressed in Lyme’s Integrated Pest Management Plan, contained within the Forest Management Plan. The plan includes steps to prevent, avoid, monitor, and suppress the proliferation of invasive plants and insects on the entirety of Lyme’s Adirondack ownership.
No pesticide or herbicide use is proposed, and no such use is authorized herein. Hazardous materials, including fuel, oil, and hydraulic fluid, will be managed in accordance with the NYS Forestry Best Management Practices for Water Quality and NYSDEC regulations. This includes proper techniques for storage and disposal of hazardous materials, and appropriate response to spill remediation.
Areas of the harvest site that approach adjoining property lines will be managed in accordance with the grievance resolution procedures contained in the Forest Management Plan. These procedures include clear marking of property boundaries to prevent logging equipment from crossing into neighboring properties, and minimum stocking density guidelines in the area adjacent to the line.
A map entitled “Camp 10 APA Clearcut Permit Map, Perkins Clearing Tract, Town of Arietta and Lake Pleasant,” received by the Agency on November 4, 2019 (the Project Site Map);
A four-page document entitled “Timber Harvest Plan, Lyme Adirondack Forest Company,” noted at the bottom of each page as “LAFCO Timber Harvest Plan: Camp 10,” prepared by Lyme Adirondack Forest Company, LLC, and received by the Agency on November 4, 2019 (the Timber Harvest Plan); and a document entitled, “Forest Management Plan Lyme Adirondack Forest Company LLC, 2018-2028,” prepared by Sean Ross, with a latest revision date of June 2019, and received by the Agency on June 11, 2019 (the Forest Management Plan).
In addition, a five-page document entitled, “Harvest Compliance Report – LAFCo,” is the applicant’s standard assessment form for monitoring compliance with a proposed harvest plan and environmental standards. A completed report will be submitted to the Agency following the harvest.
A copy of the Project Site Map is attached as a part of this permit for easy reference. The original, full-scale maps and plans described above are the official plans for the project, with copies available upon request from Adirondack Park Agency headquarters in Ray Brook, New York.
THE PROJECT IS APPROVED SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS:
The project shall not be undertaken until this permit has been recorded in the Hamilton County Clerk's Office.
This permit is binding on the permittee, all present and future owners or lessees of the project site, and all persons undertaking all or a portion of the project, for as long as the activities described herein continue on the site. Copies of this permit and the Timber Harvest Plan shall be furnished by the permittee to all persons undertaking any of the activities authorized herein.
In addition to complying with all terms and conditions of this permit, all future activities on the project site shall be undertaken in compliance with the requirements of New York State’s Adirondack Park Agency Act, Freshwater Wetlands Act, and the Adirondack Park Agency’s implementing regulations [9 NYCRR §§ 570-588].
Authorization for the proposal described herein shall only remain valid so long as the permittee maintains a current Forest Stewardship Council or Sustainable Forestry Initiative Certification.
This permit authorizes the timber harvest described in the Timber Harvest Plan. Any change to the harvest shall require prior written authorization from the Agency.
The timber harvest shall comply with the standards contained within the Forest Management Plan and the “New York State Forestry Best Management Practices for Water Quality.” The harvest shall be supervised by a professional forester.
Upon completion of the timber harvesting project authorized herein, the permittee shall submit to the Agency a post-harvest assessment form, such as the “Harvest Compliance Report” form referenced herein, documenting compliance with the Timber Harvest Plan, Forest Management Plan and best management practices.

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