Road work is under way near Brush Creek in anticipation of a Plum Creek Timber Co., salvage logging operation.

Plum Creek, which owns 1.23 million acres in Montana, obtained the contract from the U.S. Forest Service to log last year’s burn east of Libby.

The contract settled at $1.5 million, or $40.05 per ton. That equals an estimated removal of 5.5 million board feet.

Details of the contract were revealed during the Kootenai Forest Stakeholders Coalition meeting Thursday evening.

The diverse stakeholders group includes those from the timber industry to conservationists, and recreationalists to state representatives. The coalition works on various projects within the Kootenai National Forest and has endorsed a number of projects that have lead to the harvest of over 16 mbf.

Wayne Maahs, senior resource forester with Plum Creek informed attendees that the company will begin moving logs this week.

“The ink is hardly dry on our contract,” Maahs stated.

In 2007 the Brush Creek fire consumed almost 4,000 timbered acres within Kootenai National Forest, and totaled nearly 30,000 acres.

Malcolm Edwards, district ranger at Canoe Gulch, said there is a small window of opportunity to salvage the burned timber before it is unusable – especially true in the smaller diameter trees.

The contract states that Plum Creek will harvest 20 percent within the burn and leave the remaining 80 percent as habitat.

“The Brush Creek salvage is fairly focused,” Edwards said, adding that salvage projects are vetted through the National Environmental Policy Act, which includes a written decision with the ability to appeal and a public process of comment and testimony.

The salvage is to be completed by July 2009.

Salvage work is commonly a winter activity due to the sensitivity of the area. Working in the cold and snow mitigates erosion, damage to redeveloping forest and the overall human footprint.

Timber contracting officer Mike Guthneck said there is often specific language in a contract to halt or minimize logging operations on state and federal lands during hunting season.

However, the Brush Creek salvage will run through hunting season due to the “urgency to remove the timber,” Guthneck said.