This past year proved to be a busy one for Flathead National Forest as a new forest plan went into effect, new projects were announced, groundwork for others launched and new partnerships emerged.

Flathead National Forest Supervisor Chip Weber, who retire this week, described 2019 as a “tremendous year for public involvement on all fronts.”

In January, the Forest Service quietly released its new forest plan, making it the second forest in the nation to finalize such a document under a 2012 national planning rule. The document, which is replacing the most recent forest plan from 1986, is more than 2,000 pages long and will guide the forest for the next 15 or so years. According to a year-end press release, the public submitted 33,000 comments on the document.

Completion of the plan was described as a “significant effort with a high degree of community involvement.” But parts of the updated document, as is common with plans of its magnitude, didn’t come without public opposition.

For example, last spring multiple conservation groups filed several separate lawsuits against the Forest Service, claiming the plan violated the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and others. The groups primarily raised concerns about the revised plan’s impacts on the habitats of grizzlies, bull trout, lynx, and other animals, pointing to problems with roads in forest lands.

A noteworthy change in the revised plan is road closures. While in the old plan the forest was required to reclaim more than 500 miles of Forest Service roads for grizzly bear security and to protect bull trout habitat, the new plan estimates the forest will only reclaim about 30 to 60 miles.

Aside from the release of the plan, which took more than five years to curate, 2019 also marked the beginning of planning for several new sizable projects and the completion of others including Hellroaring Basin, Crystal Cedar, the Mid-Swan Landscape Restoration and, most recently, the Frozen Moose Project.

“These projects include vegetation management proposals to improve forest health, reduce hazardous fuels, provide timber products to the local economy, and offer new recreational opportunities such as trails and ski area enhancements along with other restoration efforts such as aquatic improvements and whitebark pine restoration,” the press release states.

One of the largest projects the Forest Service and other partners launched scoping efforts for in 2019 is the Comprehensive River Management Plan for the Flathead Wild and Scenic River.

Ultimately, the plan will guide management for the 219-mile river system for the next decade, or longer. According to the press release, the planning process includes a data collection effort to measure public use on various river sections.

“Visitation in the area has seen significant growth over the last decade,” the release notes. “In addition to self-guided float trips, the forest partners with nine commercial outfitter and guide companies who connect a wide range of residents and tourists to these remarkable rivers.”

A draft of the plan is yet to be released.

Also highlighted in the year-end review are updates and numbers related to recreation, the timber industry, partnerships, the avalanche center, resource conservation and the 2019 fire season.

According to the press release, the Flathead National Forest had 41 fires, the largest of which was the 1,815-acre Snow Creek Fire in the Bob Marshall Wilderness.

A number of hazardous fuel-reduction projects were also completed in order to “promote healthy vegetation, change the way wildfires move through the forest,” and more. Key projects in fiscal year 2019 were 64 acres of hand-cutting and pile burning near Coram and hand-cutting and burning 100 acres near Pinnacle Creek.

Flathead National Forest also sold 50.6 million board feet of timber volume in 2019 for a total of about $3.2 million. That number encompassed 41 active sales, which were largely dominated by Douglas fir and lodgepole pine — two species that are abundant in the region.

On the conservation front, the agency pursued a variety of activities to “further reforestation, stand improvement and tree improvement.”

Various crews replanted approximately 1,200 acres in areas previously harvested or burned by wildfire using ponderosa pine, Western larch and other species. The agency partnered with the Flathead Audubon Society to monitor raptor migration in the Jewel Basin, pursued wildlife habitat improvement efforts in elk and deer winter ranges and was active in several collaborative research efforts on lynx, grizzlies, wolverines and other species.

As for the Flathead Avalanche Center, the 2018 to 2019 winter brought “extreme conditions for outdoor activities.” The center issued 119 avalanche forecasts, including three significant avalanche warnings, and nine near-misses or accidents in which seven people were caught and carried were recorded.

Educational efforts at the center reached 1,757 students, including a youth audience of 700, to grow avalanche awareness with the local community.

While these accomplishments are certainly worth acknowledgment, Weber said the forest’s forged partnerships are perhaps the most noteworthy. Nearly 50 partners worked across the forest maintaining trails, controlling weeds, conducting surveys, managing hazardous fuels, and stewarding wilderness areas.

In a prepared statement, Weber emphasized, “we continue to see increased levels of care, stewardship, and pride in our forest.”

Reporter Kianna Gardner can be reached at 758-4407 or kgardner@daliyinterlake.com.