Page 58 - Flathead Beacon // 10.28.15

OUT OF BOUNDS 59 EXPLORE 60 Outdoors
Forest Service Proposes Fuel Reduction
in Prominent Whitefish Watershed
Agency seeking timber harvest, prescribed burning in forested section where fire danger looms large
BY DILLON TABISH OF THE BEACON WHITEFISH — The section of moun-
tains to the east of Whitefish Mountain Resort and to the north of Iron Horse subdivision provides a scenic backdrop to the surrounding community as well as the primary source of water for city residents. It also features a dense thicket of green and grey tree stands, reflecting decades of uninterrupted forest growth.
A few small fires burned in this area around the 1920s but the majority of this rugged terrain has avoided Mother Nature’s fiery cleanup since before the 1890s, creating a combustible situation causing concerns among residents and U.S. Forest Service officials.
“It’s not entirely ecologically out of whack but it is due for a large fire,” said Mike West, fire specialist with the Tally Lake Ranger District.
The area has been at the center of con- cerns for over a decade and Gov. Steve Bullock designated it as a priority for
treatment through the 2014 Farm Bill. Now the U.S. Forest Service is moving forward with a proposed fuels reduction project that would include thinning, pre- scribed burning and commercial timber
harvest.
The project, called the Whitefish
Municipal Watershed Fuels Reduction Project, is part of the 4.99 million acres statewide that Bullock selected for prior- ity treatment due to threats from forest insects and wildfires.
A local group called the Whitefish Face Working Group has met regularly in the last year to develop a plan for the water- shed. The group includes residents as well as stakeholders from the timber industry and recreation groups. The group pitched the fuels reduction project to the For- est Service earlier this year, including the timber harvest and prescribed burn proposals.
Agency biologists reviewed the plan and developed the current proposed strategy for fuels reduction, according to
Deb Bond, planning manager from the Tally Lake Ranger District.
The agency is tentatively proposing 301 acres of commercial harvest, which could provide roughly 1 million board feet of lumber, according to agency offi- cials. An unknown number of temporary roads would be constructed to access some sites for commercial harvest.
Several others sections of forest near the mountaintops where commercial harvest or thinning would be unrealis- tic are targeted for prescribed burning to reduce fuels. Other sections would be thinned to create “natural conditions,” according to Cory Anderson with the U.S. Forest Service.
Forest officials held a public meeting in Whitefish on Oct. 21, outlining the vari- ous proposals in the project. The agency will gather public input and review the project before undergoing the proper regulatory process through the National Environmental Policy Act, which will include a 30-day public comment period.
The goal is to begin the NEPA process in November, Bond said.
The potential for a large, destructive wildfire in the watershed is driving con- cerns. The area is adjacent to Haskill Basin, a 3,000-acre conservation ease- ment that keeps the land permanently protected for water, wildlife and recre- ation uses, while still allowing sustain- able timber management to continue.
First and Second creeks run through the fuels reduction project area into two intakes for the city’s water supply.
“When you have a fire in a forested watershed, typically there’s the higher potential for ash and eroded soil to wash into the streams. That can damage infra- structure and dirty up the water,” Craig Kendall, a hydrologist with the USFS, said.
“It’s pretty important that we pay close attention to what goes on in these watersheds.”
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OCTOBER 28, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
F. H. Stoltze land in Haskill Basin.
BEACON FILE PHOTO