(Photo above courtesy of Cultus Lake Resort)
Deschutes National Forest Evaluating Cultus Lake Boat Launch for Public Safety
The Deschutes National Forest has closed the Cultus Lake Campground and Day-Use area for the summer due to a large number of dead or diseased trees that pose a serious public safety hazard. The boat launch is still being evaluated for potential opening.
An in-depth review of tree stand health at the Cultus Lake Campground, Day-Use and boat launch areas by Hoodoo Recreation and the Forest Service uncovered at least 160 dead hazard trees and 300 diseased “green” trees that might fall on a family or individual camping or recreating in the area.
Removing this number of trees in the Cultus Lake area will be a large project that requires an environmental analysis. A factor in the environmental analysis will be that the Cultus Lake area is within habitat identified for Northern Spotted Owl. The Northern Spotted Owl is considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act and its habitat is protected under the Northwest Forest Plan and the Deschutes National Forest Plan. These protections require the Forest Service to remove trees in the fall, outside of the owl’s breeding season. The Forest Service is planning to remove the affected trees this fall in anticipation of re-opening the campground for the 2018 season.
Every year, campgrounds and day-use areas are reviewed by Hoodoo Recreation, the Deschutes National Forest campground concessionaire and special use permittee. These reviews often lead to identification of a small number of trees to be removed. In addition, each campground, day-use area and boat launch on the Forest is reviewed more thoroughly by individuals trained in plant pathology at least once every five years. Many of the hazard trees mentioned above were identified through this in-depth review.
Though Cultus Campground and Day-Use area will be closed for the summer, there are more than 80 other campgrounds on the Deschutes National Forest that will be open this summer. The Forest Service regrets the inconvenience this closure will cause, but hopes that visitors will find an appropriate substitute location to enjoy public lands.
For more information, contact District Ranger Kevin Larkin at 541-410-0190 or klarkin@fs.fed.us.
