Hungry Horse News

Under the Flathead National Forest's new plan, about 328,000 acres of land are designated a suitable timber base.

Another 537,873 acres could have timber harvest on them under special circumstances, such as fire salvage sales and fuel reduction projects. But generally, they wouldn't be managed for timber harvest because they're core grizzly bear habitat, the plan says.

The expected yield from the 328,000 acres hasn't been determined yet, said Ken Hotchkiss, forester for the Flathead National Forest.

That expected yield could be critical for the future health of local mills that depend on the Forest for much of their timber supply. The plan is still in draft form.

Those numbers should come out by the end of summer when the draft Forest Plan is released.

On Monday, the Forest held an open house in Kalispell where folks in many cases got their first glance at the plan - a plan that has been a long time coming.

This plan was presented using new Bush administration rules for Forest planning. Gone are the long environmental impact statements with five or six alternatives for the public to debate and choose from.

Now there's just one document and no impact statement. Under Bush rules, an environmental impact statement doesn't come until the Forest actually proposes a project, such as a timber sale or some other land use management strategy.

The Flathead National Forest covers about 2.3 million acres. About 1.1 million acres is designated wilderness and has been for decades. Under the preferred option, another 138,000 acres is proposed for a wilderness designation in the upper reaches of the North Fork near Trail Creek. The wilderness designation encompasses the upper North Fork area near Trail Creek.

The preferred option breaks up the Forest into 12 separate management areas. They run the gamut from wilderness to wild and scenic river corridors to high use developed areas.

In total, about 734,00 acres of the Forest are open to some sort of motorized vehicle use plan.