Sparse trees hamper timber harvest

Feb. 9, 2007

By Russell Stigall

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - The Mat-Su Borough's Point MacKenzie timber harvest offer did not appeal to Alaska timber contractors. In the first round of the borough's request for proposals, zero contractors applied.

In a letter to the borough, one contractor offered an explanation. The harvester faulted the contract's requirement to pay Davis-Bacon wages and the sparse, low-quality trees found on the Point Mac site, said Ron Swanson, Mat-Su Borough community development director.

The borough assembly passed a resolution last month to open up the 230-acre site for the new medium-security prison at Point Mac for a timber sale. Timber harvesters could bid on a contract to remove and sell all trees larger than 5 inches in diameter located on the site. The sale would put trees growing on the site to good use and would save the borough the expense of paying to have the site cleared for the prison.

&#8220At first, we were pretty excited about the prospect of a timber sale,” said Ron Arvin, chief operating officer of NPI LLC, a Wasilla harvesting, chipping and round log export company.

But the contractor soon discovered not much merchandisable timber on the Point Mac site.

&#8220Most of the 230-acre site was effectively tree-less,” Arvin said.

Also, NPI mostly merchandises spruce and birch, while Point Mac has a significant amount of aspen, Arvin said.

Arvin agreed the Davis-Bacon wage requirement contributed to making the project unfeasible.

The federal Davis-Bacon Act requires that contracts between state or federal entities and private contractors for the construction, alteration or repair of public buildings or public works must set minimum wages for various classes of laborers and mechanics employed under the contract, according to Department of Labor documentation. That set wage is what the majority of the laborers or mechanics earn on similar projects in the area.

Given the profit margin of timber harvesting, the industry is not set up to pay Davis-Bacon wages, Arvin said. It would be different if the borough paid the contractors to do the clearing. As the contract is set up now, timber harvesters would have to pay employees more than usual, and try to bring the timber to market at a competitive price.

Arvin said he thought the borough did right putting the timber up for sale, and hopes more timber sales are offered in the future.

&#8220We applaud the borough for putting that out there as a timber sale,” Arvin said.

If the sale is successfully bid later, the portion of sales the borough can expect to receive depends on the contract. But timber the borough has sold in the past has gone for about $70 per acre.

&#8220The intent isn't to get rich off this,” Swanson said.

The main idea is to have some use for the timber, so it doesn't get chained under, bulldozed under, buried or burned, Swanson said.

Point Mac does not have the quality of timber as in Southeast Alaska, Swanson said. Areas the borough knows have commercial timber get a minimum bid.

&#8220But this is a prison site set on a gravel pit, not a commercial forest,” Swanson said.

Though the exact quantity and quality of the Point Mac timber is unknown, a recent analysis of a 114-acre area 1.5 miles east of the site was determined to contain approximately 469 cubic feet of birch per acre and 479 board feet of spruce per acre, according to the borough's request for proposal packet.

The borough has not given up on clear-cutting its prison site.

Swanson said his department plans to ask the labor department to wave the project's Davis-Bacon requirement. He also will ask the state Department of Corrections if the timber harvest could be extended into the late summer.

Harvesting for the prison site is required to be completed no later than April 30 to comply with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The act forbids tree-cutting between April 30 and July 15. Current DOC plans call for construction on the site to begin soon after July 15.

&#8220That is a very short time frame to clear that much land,” Swanson said.

Swanson said he could change the deadline if prison contractors do not plan to move into the site until August or later. This could give extra time for a timber contractor to finish the clear cut, Swanson said.

This was good news to Arvin and NPI.

&#8220Absolutely, we would try again if details changed. We are dependent on available timber,” Arvin said. &#8220Turning down a timber deal is a very very methodical deliberate process.”

Swanson said he hopes one way or another to get the commercial timber removed and then let locals cut trees for personal use before prison contractors start leveling it.

But if the borough cannot entice a contractor to clear cut the area for profit, they will find a way to not waste the trees.

&#8220Either way, the trees will be put to some use,” Swanson said. &#8220We'll issue chain saws to anyone we can find to go in there and start cutting. We'll make them available to the public for firewood or whatever.”

Contact Russell Stigall at 352-2267 or russell.stigall@frontiersman.com.