Forest Watch - Projects Monitored

If you have any questions or would like to participate in the Community Forest Watch Program, please contact Matt Bowser at leave.earth@gmail.com or call 406.295.9736.

2012 has and will be a busy time for our Forest Watch Program, whose priorities can be summed up in two words: meetings and monitoring. We have taken a leadership role in collaborative work via the Kootenai Forest Stakeholders Coalition (KFSC), a diverse mix of people committed to having a voice in management of the Kootenai National Forest here in Lincoln County. Our Forest Watch Coordinator is the team leader for the Three Rivers District team, and is an active participant in the Rexford District team; our executive director co-chairs the board. The coalition seeks to reach consensus support of management projects that can benefit both the forest and the human community. For the immediate future, the primary focus of KFSC will be on the South Fork of the Yaak Project, the East Reservoir Project, and Forest Plan Revision.

The Draft Forest Plan was officially released on January 3rd and the public comment period is open until April 3rd. The Forest Service will be hosting a public meeting on the plan in Libby (January 24th) and in Troy (January 31st). Our Forest Watch Coordinator is currently digesting the content of the Plan and will soon be releasing some talking points on how to effectively comment on the Draft. To view the Draft Plan and associated maps please click on the link below :
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/kipz/planning/?cid=stelprdb5345946

This is a fuels reduction project located in the heart of the valley and will follow the guidelines laid out in the Healthy Forest Restoration Act. This is a project that is very near and dear to many locals due to its proximity to private lands in the valley. Pre-harvest monitoring is complete and we are awaiting the agency to release the Environmental Assessment. The Stakeholder's Three Rivers District Team has worked hard to reach common-ground on this project and also participated on two field trips with the USFS. The Forest Service has been very receptive to the concerns from the local community and we remain hopeful that the EA will produce a project that incorporates their concerns. We will keep supporters informed as the process evolves and encourage many folks to comment on the proposed actions by the Forest Service when the objection period begins.

Resource Link: www.fs.fed.us/nepa/fs-usda-pop.php/?project=32367

This project includes vegetation management through commercial timber harvest, pre-commercial thinning and prescribed fire, trail access management changes, fuels treatment areas adjacent to private property and road storage. The project area is located approximately 30 miles northeast of Libby and is 92,400 acres in size. This is a very large project that was analyzed by the Forest Service with an ecosystem management approach. The Stakeholders Coalition has decided to participate in this project and has schedule a field trip to tour some of the proposed units this summer. The DEIS for this project is expected to be released in sometime in 2012.

Resource Link: www.fs.fed.us/nepa/fs-usda-pop.php/?project=34594

This project is located south of Troy, in the Lake Creek Watershed, encompassing both the Lake and Spar subunits bordering Hwy 56. The project area is approximately 135,000 acres and is a popular location for recreation, including boating, fishing, huckleberry picking, hunting, and hiking. The USFS intends on releasing the EIS and ROD for this project sometime during the Summer/Fall 2012.

Resource Link: www.fs.fed.us/nepa/fs-usda-pop.php/?project=29324

The Grizzly Management project area is approximately 44,400 acres and is bordered on the west and north by the Yaak River, south by Roderick Mountain and east by the Sheepherder-Roderick Butte ridge. Our focus concerning this project since first initiated in 2006 has been on how management activities will impact the population of grizzly bears that use the area. Some of the concerns we had during the development of the project included proposed regeneration harvest adjacent to the Roderick Mountain Roadless Area, disturbance to bears caused by activities including road decommissioning of old roads that are currently impassable as well as the use of helicopters, and maintaining wildlife movement corridors in the project area. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the project was released in April 2009. Based on our input the FEIS was adjusted to reflect some of our concerns. Changes included less harvest along Burnt Dutch Road #472, elimination of helicopter units adjacent to the Roderick IRA, and more winter harvest while bears are denning. While we were pleased to see these adjustments we still have some concerns, including harvest in a wildlife movement corridor at the summit of the Burnt Dutch Road. Implementation of this project has halted due to litigation. The Forest Service is currently working on a Final Supplemental EIS which will contain an updated Grizzly Bear analysis addressing Judge Molloy's ruling on the Grizzly EIS project.

Resource Link: www.fs.fed.us/nepa/fs-usda-pop.php/?project=9767

This project, which gained the approval of KFSC, involves thinning of second growth forest in the wildland-urban interface (defined as National Forest land within two miles of private land) of Pine Creek, Rocky Draw, Curley Creek and the lower Yaak River. This drier habitat is at increased risk of severe wildfire as a result of both past clearcut logging and fire suppression. While YVFC fully supports the project, we also recognize the challenges involved in reducing the threat of wildfire while simultaneously maintaining wildlife corridors and winter range functions, and preventing weed infestations and increased off-road motorized travel—concerns also expressed by local residents. As of the beginning of 2012, the harvest and fuels reduction work on this project was nearing completion and looking pretty good so far. This project is scheduled to be ground truthed this spring.

A much more controversial project than Rocky Pine, the Rexford District’s Young Dodge is much larger in scale, encompassing lands within and outside the wildland-urban interface area of the West Kootenai community. The District proposes to create large openings--100 to 400 acres in size—in the forest which will purportedly emulate historically severe wildfire patterns. The problem—and the reason the project has yet to receive the support of KFSC—is that the combination of the proposed large openings along with the cumulative effects of decades of intensive management would be strongly detrimental to wildlife that depend on mature forest habitat. Despite lack of support from KFSC, the Rexford Ranger District released the Record of Decision for the project as originally proposed. However, as a result of an appeal by the Lands Council, Region One ordered the district to reanalyze the project relative to its effects on the northern goshawk. Subsequently, the District has expressed a willingness to amend the project based on KFSC input. One positive result of this long and, at times, frustrating process has been the incorporation into the project of research and input from Rocky Mountain Research Station’s Dr. Terrie Jain, who designs treatments that replicate less severe wildfire patterns, with smaller openings representing a mosaic of forest habitats.

The Rexford District is currently working on responses to comments and plans on releasing the final EIS for the Young Dodge project in the very near future. Once that occurs we will be analyzing what changes have been made based on our previous input.

Resource Link: www.fs.fed.us/nepa/fs-usda-pop.php/?project=20067

According to the Record of Decision, the Forest Service authorized 1,730 acres for intermediate harvest and another 264 acres for regeneration harvest. In addition, the agency called for 644 acres worth of pre-commercial thinning, machine and hand-pile thinning, and prescribed burns. This project received authorization in 2008 and is for the most part incomplete. The economic recession that began in 2008 has led contract holders to exercise their right to delay work until the market recovers. However, some units have been treated and this past summer one of our board members, Andrew Duffin, performed post-harvest monitoring on a number of sites. In general, the harvest operations have matched what the EIS dictated with some notable exceptions. The good news was that the completed fuels reduction units look quite good with minimal ground disturbance. As contractors slowly get back into working the units, our monitoring efforts in NE Yaak will resume as well.

Reference: www.fs.fed.us/nepa/nepa_project_exp.php?project=9766

The majority of our summer field work in 2009 involved weed surveys of areas treated in the Garver project in the upper Yaak Valley. During Garver’s design phase in 2002 YVFC voiced concerns regarding potential weed infestations - primarily orange and meadow hawkweed - into proposed logging units from roads and formerly logged areas adjacent to some units. Though Three Rivers worked with us to include extra mitigation measures, ultimately, due to lack of funding and manpower, the District has not implemented much of the mitigation work. Our surveys sought to assess the location and extent of weed proliferation over the past five years. Additionally, we have been sharing our survey information with the Three Rivers District so they can prioritize weed treatments in the future. This information is still being compiled and analyzed, and when completed will, we hope, contribute to better design of future projects.

During 2008 our Forest Watch program assisted the Rocky Mountain Research Station and the Kootenai National Forest in an old growth fire mortality study seeking to determine whether the duff buildup resulting from decades of fire suppression contributes to large tree mortality from prescribed burns, and if so, what treatments might reduce this mortality. YVFC helped with field and lab work, in addition to photo documentation. The research was conducted in an old growth ponderosa stand near Libby, and two larch stands in the Blacktail and Vinal areas in the Yaak.