From the Wednesday, May 24, 2006 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
The examination is under way.
People milled about the room, slowly scrutinizing the oversized maps on the wall that represent the Flathead National Forest’s long-range forest-plan proposal.
“People seem to be moving to their particular areas of interest,” said Flathead Supervisor Cathy Barbouletos at the forest’s first forest-plan open house Monday at the WestCoast Kalispell Center Hotel. “It’s either an issue, or a place that they are usually interested in.”
The maps are the meat of a plan that is based largely on strategic goals for different parts of the forest. Some describe it as “zoning” with “desired conditions” on the landscape. It’s a big difference from the far more descriptive and detailed forest plans that were enacted across the country in the mid-1980s. Those plans entailed voluminous environmental-impact statements that attempted to predict the effects of forest-plan implementation.
Under rules adopted by the Forest Service last year, the new plans are slimmer and simpler, and they are being developed on a far more expeditious schedule.
. . . the Flathead proposal includes 141,243 acres of “recommended wilderness,” a substantial increase over the current plan’s 98,080 acres. Most of the additional acreage is from the inclusion of about 60,000 acres in the North Fork Flathead drainage, around Thompson-Seton and Tuchuck mountains. The rest is accounted for with proposed expansions around the Bob Marshall, Spotted Bear and Great Bear wilderness areas.
Read the entire article . . .
From the Wednesday, May 3, 2006 online edition of the Hungry Horse News . . .
The Flathead National Forest Monday released its proposed management plan - a document designed to steer, but not necessarily dictate, how it will manage the Forest in the next 10 years.
The plan looks at everything from timber harvest to new areas recommended for wilderness.
The plan parcels out the forest under several different categories, from timber harvest lands to wilderness and a host of other uses in between . . .
Suitable timber harvest lands include lands in the Swan Valley that checkerboard with Plum Creek lands, land up the North Fork outside of recommended wilderness areas and lands in the Tally Lake and areas south of Kalispell . . .
In the North Fork, about 67,000 acres of land north of Red Meadow Creek to almost Canada are recommended wilderness . . .
. . . there will be another round of public comment periods starting soon.
Open houses for the Flathead are May 22 and June 15 at the West Coast Kalispell Center from 4 to 8 p.m. and then June 17 at the Kalispell High School from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The final plan is expected this fall.
You can view the entire document at www.fs.fed.us/r1/wmpz, which includes maps and more detailed information.
Written comments can be sent to:
Proposed Land Management Plan
Bitterroot National Forest
1801 N. First Street
Hamilton, MT 59840.
The Forest Service will also mail a CD of the plan to folks who request one.
Read the entire article . . .
The revised forest plan documents released yesterday for the Bitterroot, Flathead, and Lolo national forests are available online.
The Western Montana Forest Planning Zone home page contains links to documents, contact information and associated material.
The Flathead National Forest Proposed Plan page provides access to the planning documents for the Flathead National Forest specifically.
(Note that the documents are in PDF format. Viewing them requires the free Adobe Reader.)
From the Tuesday, May 2, 2006 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
The Flathead National Forest on Monday rolled out a proposed forest-plan revision that closely follows last year’s draft recommendations for wilderness, timber harvest and other strategic management goals.
The Flathead plan proposes 141,243 acres of wilderness, 328,328 acres for timber production and an additional 568,559 acres where timber harvest could occur on the 2.3 million-acre forest.
The Flathead, Bitterroot and Lolo national forests jointly issued their forest plan proposals, triggering a 90-day public comment period that will involve two open houses in the Flathead Valley . . .
The Flathead proposal of 141,243 acres of recommended wilderness is a substantial increase over the current plan’s recommendation for 98,080 acres. Most of the additional acreage is from about 60,000 acres in the North Fork Flathead drainage, in the Thompson-Seton and Tuchuck Mountain areas.
The Flathead proposal maps out 328,328 acres that are considered “suitable for timber production.” These are areas that would be actively managed to produce commercial timber products. That’s a substantial reduction from the 670,000 acres defined as the suitable timber base in the current forest plan.
But the new definition does not reflect all areas where timber harvest could occur. An additional 568,559 acres would be “suitable for timber harvest for other purposes.”
Those areas would be managed so trees could be harvested to achieve multiple-use objectives, such as supporting wildlife habitat, reducing fire hazards or improving scenic vistas . . .
Read the entire article . . .
From the Tuesday, May 2, 2006 online edition of the Missoulian . . .
After three years of effort and 146 community-based meetings, the Bitterroot, Flathead and Lolo national forests released their proposed land management plans Monday . . .
The new plans outline the desired future condition of national forest lands; how the agency plans to do the work under expected budgets; the suitability of lands for different kinds of projects and activities; which areas warrant special management due to unique characteristics; and the guidelines the agency will use to design projects.
All three plans call for maintaining about the same amount of timber harvest as the previous decade and small increases in areas recommended for wilderness. The Bitterroot and Lolo national forests also rejected the idea of a downhill ski area on Lolo Peak . . .
Read the entire article . . .