Tag Archives: Flathead National Forest

Final draft of Flathead National Forest Plan rolls out in June

News,

Lake in Flathead National Forest

It’s getting close. The final draft of the Flathead National Forest Plan will be released in June. There are actually two pieces: the final draft of the forest plan, along with the final version of the associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which includes guidance for grizzly bear management in coordination with neighboring national forests.

Here’s the official press release . . .

Flathead National Forest Plan Revision Status

Kalispell, MT-February 21, 2017 – The Flathead National Forest released the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the draft revised Land and Resource Management Plan (draft forest plan) in late May 2016. The draft EIS also includes the environmental consequences of the draft forest plan amendments to incorporate habitat-related management direction for grizzly bears for the Helena-Lewis and Clark, Kootenai, and Lolo National Forests.

The comment period ended on October 3, 2016 for the draft EIS, the draft revised forest plan and draft forest plan amendments. The120-day comment period resulted in over 33,000 comments. Comments help the Forest Service identify the range of issues to be addressed, and the significant concerns related to the draft forest plan, draft amendments, and draft EIS, and are assisting the interdisciplinary team in developing and recommending a preferred alternative.

The final EIS and draft record of decision is expected to be released in June 2017 and will be subject to a pre-decisional administrative review process; commonly referred to as the objection process. The Forest Service’s objection process provides an opportunity to have any unresolved concerns reviewed by the Forest Service prior to a final decision by the responsible official. Objections will be accepted only from those who have previously submitted substantive formal comments during an opportunity for public participation provided during the planning process, and attributed to the individual or entity providing them. Continue reading Final draft of Flathead National Forest Plan rolls out in June →

Get your Forest Plan comments in now! Deadline is Oct 3!

Environmental Issues, Member Bulletins & Information,
Lake in Flathead National Forest
Lake in Flathead National Forest

Dear North Fork Preservation Association Member,

With all of the wild public lands in the North Fork, there is not one acre of designated Wilderness….yet.  This needs to change and YOU can play a significant role in this by writing a comment on the Flathead Forest Plan TODAY!

The Flathead National Forest is in the midst of its forest planning process.  Several years ago, members of NFPA participated in the Whitefish Range Partnership (WRP), a local citizen collaborative, in anticipation of the forest planning process.  The WRP represented various interests (loggers, snowmobilers, mountain bikers, backcountry horsemen, and wilderness advocates) and consensus was reached on 83,000 acres of proposed wilderness in the northern Whitefish Range.  This area includes the most spectacular peaks in the Whitefish Range: Nasukoin, Tuchuck, Hefty, Thompson-Seton, and Review.  We are hoping that the Flathead National Forest will include the northern Whitefish Range as Recommended Wilderness in their final Forest Plan and not allow any non-conforming uses in recommended wilderness.  (Recommended Wilderness is the first step in getting this area designated as Wilderness by Congress.)

A personal letter from you makes the biggest impact.  If you have hiked any of these peaks, please mention this in your letter.  If you don’t have time to write a personal letter and want the easy way, just go to www.wildmontana.org/flathead and add your name and contact information to the letter that was written by the Montana Wilderness Association.

If you write your own personalized letter, send it to:

Chip Weber
Forest Supervisor
Flathead National Forest
650 Wolfpack Way
Kalispell, MT 59901

Please include support for the following things:

For the North Fork—

  1. Recommended Wilderness in the northern Whitefish Range following the map submitted by the Whitefish Range Partnership.
  2. Manage recommended Wilderness just like designated Wilderness, prohibiting motorized use and mountain biking.

For other areas in the Flathead National Forest–

  1. Expansion of the Bob Marshall Wilderness northward in the Swan Range to protect the Bunker and upper Sullivan Creek area
  2. Protect the Greater Jewel Basin, especially the western slope of the Swan Range, in recommended Wilderness.
  3. Expansion of the Mission Mountains Wilderness to include the lower-elevations, species rich-lands adjacent to it.
  4. Manage recommended Wilderness just like designated Wilderness, prohibiting motorized use and mountain biking.

Also, please support Alternative 3 in the Environmental Impact Statement to keep core grizzly bear habitat managed at the level that it has been in the past…… whether or not the grizzly is delisted.

We have a receptive Forest administration and a good chance of getting recommended wilderness additions if there are lots of comments from citizens.  Your comment is very important!  You can make a real difference! Thanks for taking the time to do this!  The deadline is October 3, so please submit your comments today!!

 

Warm Regards,
Debo Powers, NFPA President
NFPApresident@gravel.org

Prescribed fires planned for the Flathead

Fire Information and Status, News, ,

From the official press release . . .

Ranger Districts on the Flathead National Forest are planning to conduct multiple fall season prescribed fire projects, when weather, fuel conditions, and air quality is favorable. Burning is expected to start as early as September 16, and will continue through the close of open burning season on November 30, 2015. Smoke will be visible from various places in the Flathead Valley depending on the location of the burn units and weather conditions.

Each project follows a Prescribed Fire Burn Plan. The prescribed fire projects are located, designed and controlled to reduce the potential for adverse effects or escape as a wildland fire. These projects will be in compliance with Montana air quality standards and coordinated with Montana State Department of Environmental Quality to reduce the impacts of smoke to our neighbors, cooperators, and surrounding communities. The project areas include:
Hungry Horse/Glacier View Ranger Districts

  • Red Whale Creek Area – A 1114 acre project is planned in the Red Whale Creek drainage in the North Fork of the Flathead about four miles north of Polebridge. Depending on weather, this burn is planned for the next few weeks. The purpose of the project is to help restore a more historical fire regime to the ecosystem, improve wildlife habitat and reduce hazardous fuels to reduce wildfire risk and aid in potential future fire suppression efforts. In the same area about 31 acres of piles from logging slash will be burned.
  • Heinrude Fuels Project – This work involves burning about 22 acres of debris piles adjacent to Heinrude Creek and the West-side Hungry Horse Reservoir road near the Heinrude cabins.
  • Belton Fuels Project – This project includes the burning of about 15 acres of debris piles adjacent to private property in West Glacier and 176 acres of scattered debris piles between Coram and West Glacier.
  • Essex Area – Work involves the burning of several debris piles and logging slash in the Essex area.
  • Slippery Bill – Work involves the burning of several debris piles and logging slash.
  • Firefighter – Work involves the burning of several debris piles and logging slash.

Tally Lake Ranger District

  • Beaver Lake North Fuels Reduction Project – This project involves the burning of about 5 acres of debris piles adjacent to private property about five miles west of Whitefish.
  • Valley Face Fuels Reduction Project – Work involves the burning of about 69 acres of debris piles adjacent to private property about eight miles southwest of Whitefish along the Tally Lake Road.
  • Ashley Communications Site Project – Work involves the burning of about 4 acres of hand piles around the communications site.
  • Logan 200 Project – Work involves the burning of about 180 acres of hand piles at the north end of Tally Lake east of the campground.
  • Sharptail Project – Work involves the burning of about 17 acres of mechanical piles just off the Star Meadows road.
  • Ashley Lake Project – Work involves the burning of 76 acres of mechanical piles west of Ashley Lake.
  • Herrig Creek Project – Work involves the burning of 95 acres of mechanical piles 2.5 miles north of Little Bitterroot Lake.

Spotted Bear Ranger District

  • Horse Ridge – This project includes burning units along the ridge to the east the East Side Road and north of Spotted Bear complex.
  • Miscellaneous Piles – Piles around the district from a variety of projects will be burned.

Swan Lake Ranger District

  • Wild Cramer – This project includes broadcast and under burning in stands located within the Blacktail Mountain area west of Lakeside, MT. These treatments will use prescribed fire for fuels reduction, vegetation regeneration, and wildlife habitat improvement.
  • Condon Fuels – This project includes broadcast burning in timber stands located within the Condon Fuels project area around Condon, MT in the Swan Valley. These treatments will use prescribed fire for fuels reduction, vegetation regeneration, and wildlife habitat improvement.
  • Pile Burning – Hand or machine piles are located in several locations within the Swan Valley, Blacktail Mountain, Haskill Mountain and miscellaneous piles around the district as a result of but not limited to: logging, hazardous fuels reduction in the wildland urban interface, hazard tree removal, recreation site management and trail or road construction. These piles are burned to reduce fuel loads in these areas. These piles are strategically burned based on their location, access, and weather conditions.

For more information about these projects contact the appropriate Ranger Station:

  • Hungry Horse/Glacier View Ranger Districts: 406/387-3800
  • Tally Lake Ranger District: 406/758-5204
  • Spotted Bear Ranger District: 406-758-5376
  • Swan Lake Ranger District: 406/837-7500

Debo Powers: The Wild Mind of God

Prose and Poetry, ,
Mossy Stream - W. K. Walker
Mossy Stream – W. K. Walker

Debo Powers presented this poem at the “Wild Poems, Wild Stories, Wild Flathead” program held in Missoula on September 13 and in Whitefish on September 15 . . .

The Wild Mind of God

Trying to face the mind of God in a grove of trees,
I pause and listen.
My breath comes hard and ragged.
Sweat soaks my clothes from the long climb.

It is cool here
Sheltered from the glare of the hot western sun.
The wind swooshing through the branches overhead
The sounds of a creek as it runs over the toes of smooth boulders.

This is a cathedral
This cool dark spot
Dripping with moisture
Heavy with decay and new growth.

I fall to my knees in worship
And feel the soft furry moss against my skin
The wetness soaks into my socks
I breathe deeply in this quiet sacred place
Where creatures find refuge from the blistering heat.

I am not alone here.
Everywhere there are spirits.
An old elk who laid down here to die,
Torn and bleeding from the ravages of wolves and long winters.
A baby tanager that fell from a nest
And never rose again to try its wings.
A trout that was scooped out of its cold watery home
By the claws of a patient mountain lion.

We are all here
In this cathedral
On this mountainside
In the wild mind of God.

— Debo Powers

Inspired by the wildlands of the northern Whitefish Range
in the Flathead National Forest

Poetry and prose inspired by the Flathead Forest backcountry, Sep 15, in Whitefish

News, , , , , ,

poetry-and-prose-inspired-by-the-flathead-forest-sep-15-2016Debo Powers, NFPA President, is presenting an original poem at the event in Whitefish. Look for it here, right after the event closes!

Celebrate the Wild Flathead! Join Montana Wilderness Association and Whitefish Review for an evening of poems and stories from the wild backcountry of the Flathead National Forest on Thursday, September 15 from 5:30 – 8pm at Bonsai Brewing Project in Whitefish. Local authors will share works that were inspired by the beauty of the places in our own wild backyard such as the Whitefish Range, the majestic Swan Range and the beloved Bob Marshall Wilderness. As we reminisce about another glorious summer on the trail, MWA encourages those who care about these areas to add their comments on the Flathead National Forest’s new management plan, which is currently being revised. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres will be provided and a FREE GIFT for new and current MWA members. This is a FREE event that is open to the public. Join us to listen, share, and protect the future of our wild legacy!

Coal Ridge Fire ‘controlled’

Fire Information and Status, News,
Coal Ridge - remains of old lookout - W. K. Walker
Coal Ridge – remains of old lookout – W. K. Walker

According to a recent report, the Coal Ridge Fire is now “controlled.” It is located 6 miles southwest of Polebridge (or 1.5 miles ESE of the location pictured above), high up on the south face of the ridge above Coal Creek Road.

The 0.2 acre blaze was spotted late Tuesday afternoon. Fire personnel dropped on it the next day.

Reminder: Flathead National Forest announces next forest plan open house

Environmental Issues, News,
Review Basin - Flathead NF - W. K. Walker
Review Basin – Flathead NF – W. K. Walker

The Flathead National Forest is having another in a series of open houses on September 8 regarding their “forest plan, plan amendments and draft environmental impact statement.”

This is a fairly big deal. They’re deciding how to manage the forest for the next 20 years or so, including such things as timber management, wilderness, recreation, travel and, in conjunction with surrounding forests, items like how to handle grizzly bear de-listing.

Here’s the announcement . . .

Open House Notice

Flathead National Forest Plan Revision, Plan Amendments, and Draft Environmental Impact Statement

You are invited to attend an open house on the Flathead National Forest draft forest plan, plan amendments, and draft environmental impact statement.

The purpose of the draft forest plan is to provide for long-term sustainability of ecosystems and desired ecosystem services. The draft forest plan describes the Forest’s distinctive roles and contributions within the broader landscape and details forest-wide, management area, and geographic area desired conditions, objectives, standards, and guidelines. The revised forest plan identifies suitable uses of National Forest System lands and estimates of the planned timber sale quantity for the Forest. The draft revised plan identifies priority watersheds for restoration, and includes the evaluation of recommended wilderness areas and eligible wild and scenic rivers. The purpose and need for the four forest amendments for the Helena, Lewis and Clark, Kootenai, and Lolo National Forests, along with the revised forest plan for the Flathead National Forest, is to ensure the adequacy of regulatory mechanisms regarding habitat protection across the national forests in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem in support of the de-listing of the grizzly bear.

During the open house the planning team will be available to answer any questions you may have. There will not be a formal presentation. You can plan to stop in at any time during the open house.

Thursday, September 8, 2016, 4:30-7:00 p.m., Flathead National Forest Supervisors Office, 650 Wolfpack Way, Kalispell MT 59901

Documents and maps are available on-line, as well as information about how to comment, at www.fs.usda.gov/goto/flathead/fpr. The comment period ends on October 3, 2016.

Banned from Flathead Forest, for-profit mushroom pickers keep low profile

News, ,
Morel mushrooms near West Glacier, Montana - Cathy McCoy
Morel mushrooms near West Glacier, Montana – Cathy McCoy

Yesterday’s (Wed., Aug. 31) NPR “Morning Edition” ran a piece on mushroom pickers in our region . . .

At a campground in northwestern Montana, 30 people are groggily gearing up for a day of mushroom picking.

Most are here because they want an excuse to get outside and taste some of Montana’s more exotic wild mushrooms. But others, like Matt Zaitz from Kansas, are here to turn a profit…

Zaitz can sell a pound of morel mushrooms for about $20. On a good day, which is by no means every day, Zaitz says he can bring in a harvest worth $500. He says there’s potentially millions of dollars to be made off mushrooms in Western public lands, especially in burn zones the summer after a big wildfire.

Read more . . .

Road management a hot topic in new forest plan

Environmental Issues, News, , ,
Gate Across Hay Creek Rd, Flathead NF, April 16, 2016 - W. K. Walker
Gate Across Hay Creek Rd, Flathead NF, April 16, 2016 – W. K. Walker

Even something as commonplace as roads is a hot topic in the new forest plan . . .

The Flathead National Forest will likely change the way it manages its roads when a new Forest Plan is adopted and at least one environmental group isn’t happy with the change.

Three of the four alternatives listed in a recently released draft forest plan will not utilize provisions in Amendment 19, the controversial standard that has resulted in the closure of more than 700 miles of roads across the forest in the past couple of decades.

Under Amendment 19, biologists divided the Forest habitat into grizzly bear subunits and in each subunit, the Forest was to strive for a formula that allowed for 19 percent open roads, 19 percent total roads, and 68 percent core grizzly habitat with no roads.

Read more . . .

Flathead Forest holds open house to discuss draft revised management plan

Environmental Issues, News, ,

From a Headwaters Montana bulletin . . .

The Flathead National Forest has released its long-anticipated “Draft Revised Management Plan” for the 2.3 million-acre forest. This revised plan will set the course for forest management for the next 15-20 years. Because of the anticipated longevity, it’s very important that folks who enjoy and appreciate our local national treasure to show up and participate in the revision process.

You have two opportunities to attend an open house hosted by the Flathead Forest to learn more about the proposed plan and demonstrate your interest.

Kalispell
When: Monday, June 20, from 2-6pm
Where: The Flathead National Forest Supervisor’s Office, 650 Wolfpack Way

Missoula
When: June 22, from 2-6pm
Where:
Hilton Garden Inn, 3720 N. Reserve Street

Want to read up on the Forest Plan before you get there? Go here. (Hint: Start with the maps and Appendix G.)