Forest visitors planning to travel Santiam-Sourdough Road (FSR 492) between Leggett Creek Campground (junction of Road 492 and Highway 14) and Ten Mile Campground will experience road closures from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. seven days
a week beginning Thursday, September 28. There is no alternate route.
Delays will likely begin Wednesday, September 27, as heavy equipment moves into the area. Work will continue until winter weather sets in.
According to Red River District Ranger Robyn Smith, the delays and closures are necessary for public safety while a contractor completes fuels reduction work along the road segment, which in this case is being completed with a piece of equipment called a masticator.
Mastication, sometimes referred to as “forest mulching” is a mechanical treatment used to reduce fuels in overgrown areas. It is generally completed with a skid-steer or excavator with a special attachment that is able to mulch smaller trees and brush into debris that looks much like what would be expected from the use of a woodchipper.
Smith said the project is being completed in partnership with the Nez Perce Tribe as a Good Neighbor Authority project. The Good Neighbor Authority allows tribes, states, and counties to complete restoration work through partnering with the Forest Service. These agreements facilitate the pace and scale of restoration work on federally managed lands and across boundaries.
Questions about the project should be directed to the Red River Ranger District at (208) 842-2245.
