Logging Project to Boost Wildfire Safety Set to Begin on Big Mountain

With the aim of improving wildfire safety on Big Mountain, the Flathead National Forest has approved a plan to thin trees and vegetation crowding the chairlifts at Whitefish Mountain Resort. The project includes about 200 acres of active management aimed at safeguarding lift infrastructure, with land managers and resort officials predicting some of the work will cause “brief disruptions” affecting trail access this summer.

Proposed in late February as part of a strategy to reduce the risk of wildfire and protect “a concentration of community assets and infrastructure vital to the local recreation and tourism economy,” the plan received final approval April 16. Work “may begin immediately,” according to the decision and finding of applicability and no extraordinary circumstances (FANEC) signed by Tally Lake District Ranger William Mulholland.

The project was developed in collaboration with Whitefish Mountain Resort, the local ski area operating on National Forest System (NFS) land through a special-use permit, and Firesafe Flathead, a group of neighborhood and homeowners associations, local, state and federal agencies, and nonprofit organizations working “to create fire-adapted communities and resilient landscapes in the Flathead Valley,” according to the project’s supporting documentation. The entire project is in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) established by the Flathead County Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

Although the public had an opportunity to comment on the project, it was categorically excluded from documentation in an Environmental Assessment or Environmental Impact Statement, in large part because of its goal to mitigate wildfire risk and promote forest health. Further streamlining the project was its classification under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Action Determination (EAD), which identifies millions of acres of NFS lands as having very high or high wildfire risk, or experiencing declining forest health.

“All lands within the Big Mountain Fuels Reduction project area are covered by the EAD and this project is being proposed and analyzed under this Emergency Action authority,” according to project documentation.

“Tree growth, insect and disease mortality, and understory tree regeneration have resulted in the accumulation of ladder and surface fuels conditions in the project area that could support wildland fire with increased resistance to control, which could threaten life, property, and infrastructure (on private resort property, within the resort permit area boundary on NFS lands, and on other adjacent private lands),” according to the proposed action. “There is a need to reduce tree densities and fuel loadings to reduce risk to the recreation infrastructure and adjacent communities.”

The project activities are generally designed to retain large trees, while individual tree selection treatments would remove some large trees due to species, declining health, and proximity to infrastructure. Since the proposed action was released for public input on Feb. 20, design features were added to establish a protective buffer around the Hellroaring Snow Course and to incorporate protections for whitebark pine. Total treatment acreage changed from 201 acres to 198 acres because unit boundaries were refined.

Whitefish Mountain Resort will develop a comprehensive plan to provide for visitor safety during active operations, officials said, with “trail closures, reroutes, signage at access portals, and physical presence at key access points during operations” necessary. The timber sale contract includes provisions to limit impacts to trails that overlap with the project’s boundary, including the Danny On, Summit and Kashmier trails.

“Summer is months away, but it’s never too early to plan for the wildfire season. This project is imperative to protect resort infrastructure and ensure the continued safe operations of our chairlifts,” Whitefish Mountain Resort President Nick Polumbus said in a statement announcing the project. “The project will come with a few temporary, isolated impacts to some bike trails, but we are planning for this well in advance to provide reroutes and maintain a top-notch summer experience on the mountain.”

Forest officials said the fuels reduction project would complement recent and planned work on adjacent private lands as crews work to “remove accumulated vegetation and dense trees” along Chairs 1, 2 and 4.

“The Flathead National Forest is working in close partnership with Whitefish Mountain Resort to develop a project that supports the Whitefish community,” Mulholland, the Tally Lake District Ranger, said. “This project is focused on critical resort infrastructure, vital assets to local recreation and the tourism economy.”

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