Tour focuses on plan to thin forest in Blankenship area
JIM MANN The Daily Inter Lake | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 20 years, 2 months AGO
The Hungry Horse Ranger District is hosting a public tour Friday focusing on a fuels reduction project in the Blankenship area north of Columbia Falls.
Hungry Horse District Ranger Jimmy DeHerrera said the field tour was planned because of "high interest" in the project, which has been developed under a special rule excluding it from the standard environmental review process required of most timber sales.
The Forest Service came out with its initial plans for the Blankenship Fuels Reduction Project last October. With some public comments, those plans were refined.
The current proposal calls for thinning trees on 15 cutting units situated on 952 acres. The cutting units are scattered near private lands on eastern slopes of Teakettle Mountain, from U.S. 2 north to Blankenship Road.
A decision on the project is expected in May; work could begin soon after that.
The purpose of the project, according to the Forest Service, "is to lower the risk of future high intensity severity wildfire," improve the ability to fight wildfires near homes, and improve forest conditions by introducing greater populations of species, such as larch, that are more fire-tolerant.
The project will involve thinning out smaller trees and leaving behind larger, more desirable species. More trees would be removed in areas where there are thick stands of lodgepole pine.
No new roads would be required to carry out the work.
Although the project's main goal is to reduce hazardous fuels, the thinning is expected to yield trees with commercial value. The district has not developed any timber volume estimates. Proceeds from log sales would be retained by the district to offset project costs.
The Blankenship project was designed to complement similar thinning efforts that have gotten under way between Hungry Horse and West Glacier.
The Blankenship project fits standards for a recently adopted "categorical exclusion" aimed at exempting limited fuel-reduction projects from often time-consuming and costly environmental assessments or environmental impact statements.
One requirement for the exemption is that fuels reduction projects cannot exceed 1,000 acres.
Those interested in participating in the field tour should call the Hungry Horse Ranger District at 387-3800 by today.
To comment on the project, call project leader James Barnett at 387-3800 or send written comments to: Hungry Horse Ranger Station, P.O. Box 190340, Hungry Horse, MT, 59919.
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