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The Nugget Newspaper
Sisters, Oregon
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The contents of the on-line edition of The Nugget represent a selection among the stories that appear in the weekly print edition.

Highway 20 forest stand stands out
By Jim Cornelius

Mark Rapp stands amid a showcase forest stand.

Just west of Black Butte Ranch, on the north side of Highway 20, there is a spacious stand of towering ponderosa pines that local foresters like to show off.

"This area behind me is one of my favorite places on the Sisters (Ranger) District," said district fire specialist Mark Rapp.

Rapp and District Ranger Bill Anthony took Governor John Kitzhaber and a bevy of foresters, activists and journalists there on Tuesday, August 6.

The stand is a pretty spot -- with giant, widely spaced ponderosas and a low ground covering of manzanita -- but Rapp likes the spot for more than its aesthetic value.

The stand represents a successful effort to restore health to a stretch of forest.

Back in 1997, Rapp said, the area was choked with brush standing six feet high. Numerous small trees clumped together under the bigger trees.

Foresters mowed the underbrush and cut the small trees, which were hand piled and given away to community members for firewood.

Then the forest floor was burned.

The result was an open, airy stand, where the crowns of the trees are far from the ground and well out of reach of flames.

However, Rapp noted, the current conditions don't represent a "quick fix." The area still requires some management.

According to Rapp, his showcase spot will be ready for a prescribed burn in about two years.

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