Tree removal project to begin next month

By Rachel Young, Northwest Guardian

The second phase of a tree removal project will begin next month around Gray Army Airfield, which will help make the southern approach safer for Army aviators.

Last summer, the project began with a Federal Aviation Administration-required removal of trees that were extending as far as 98 feet into the approach. The project was designed to bring the northern approach to the air field into compliance with FAA regulations. This year, the southern approach is getting a similar treatment. The cutting will be done in sections because it is a large project, said Allan Derrickson, Fort Lewis’ installation forester.

“Because it’s so much timber that, for one logger, it would be too much,” Derrickson said, “we’re going to start with the (trees) closest to the air field.”

To comply with FAA regulations, the airfield’s approach and landing surfaces must have an obstacle-free plane with a slope of 50:1, meaning for every 50 horizontal feet of approach, there must be one vertical foot in which there are no obstacles. For Gray Army Airfield, this means an area 9,000 feet wide, extending 25,200 horizontal feet from the airfield, and 500 vertical feet above the airfield. Any obstacles must fall 10 feet below this 50:1 slope.

The cutting is scheduled to begin the first week in August. Trees will likely start to come down in the most visible areas during the second week of cutting, said Len Fuller, forester for the Army Corps of Engineers.

Because of the proximity of some of the trees to fences and power lines, for a two-week period during the project Stryker Avenue will be temporarily closed between 2nd Division Drive and 4th Division Drive from 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. to avoid conflicts with PT and rush hour traffic.

The exact dates of the closure have yet to be determined.

The trees removed from the approaches will be sold and 40 percent of the net profit will go to local counties for roads and schools, Derrickson said. The rest will be put in the Army Reimbursable Forestry Account, which will help Army posts everywhere.

“That side of it goes to fund the (Army) forestry operations nationwide,” Fuller said.

A landscaping plan has been created to fill the holes that will be left by the missing trees. It will include native plants that will not grow as tall as the trees that are now hampering the airfield. Paper birch, pacific rhododendron and red fescue are a few of the plants that are included in the plan.

Once the obstacles are cleared during the second phase of the tree removal, the project will be about 25 percent finished, according to Fuller.