Albany South Update

Albany South is project management area within the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF).  It was designated in 2011 and encompasses 15,000 acres, extending from Speckled Mountain, behind the north end of Kezar Lake, across to Route 5 in Stoneham.

The Kezar Lake Watershed Association has been very involved with Albany South since its inception, being particularly concerned about the potentially damaging impact of logging on headwater streams within our watershed. We organized informational meetings, site walks, and several studies (water quality, Brook Trout, etc.), while maintaining an open and respectful dialogue with WMNF staff.

In December 2017, the US Forest Service released the final management plan for Albany South, including its Final Environmental Assessment, its Draft Decision, and a Response to Public Comments.  

KLWA reviewed the 500+ pages of documents and met with Forest Service representatives to outline KLWA’s continued concerns and actionable requests. The Forest Service agreed to several of our requests, a summary of which can be viewed in KLWA’s Summer 2018 Newsletter.

The Forest Service’s Final Decision for Albany South was signed in the Spring of 2018.  Within our watershed, logging would only be allowed during the winter, when the ground is frozen or snow-covered; and not on weekends or holidays. Logging trucks would be using the Hut Road where flaggers have been promised to ensure safety. 

The Forest Service has been providing updates to KLWA and we have been meeting annually, each June.

Logging was scheduled to begin in 2021 but has been postponed several times. And, with that passage of time, the WMNF has also significantly reduced the amount of acreage that was to be harvested.  This is great news. Out of concern for headwater streams, the WMNF has dropped all harvest units along and beyond the end of the Hut Road, and much acreage on the east side of Beaver Brook. As of December 2022, the Six Lids Timber Sale (the name of the timber sale within our watershed) had been reduced to 340 acres, down from nearly 1000 acres. Thank you WMNF!

That sale is scheduled to go out to bid in the Spring or early Summer of 2023. Stay tuned.

Additionally, KLWA and the WMNF will continue to collaborate and to share information and expertise across many parameters, including water quality, climate change, and brook trout.   

KLWA is grateful for this constructive relationship with the White Mountain National Forest, which is the largest landholder within the watershed.