The USDA Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management are seeking comments on the Westside Restoration Project located in Boundary County.

This “scoping” or public comment period will be open from now until Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Public input provides suggestions and identifies concerns to help both agencies develop a project proposal. Project information and instructions on how to comment are available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=56888. Comments are most helpful if they are submitted by Jan. 31.

The Bonners Ferry Ranger District is in the process of developing the project proposal and will use public input to finalize the proposed activities. The Westside Restoration Project area is approximately 60,000 acres in size and is located west of Bonners Ferry in the Myrtle, Snow, and Caribou Creek drainages, and near the Dodge Peak and White Mountain areas.

The draft proposed activities include approximately 9,500 acres of timber harvest, 1,500 acres of small tree (pre-commercial) thinning, and 2,500 acres of prescribed burning. These activities would help accomplish the objectives related to hazardous fuels reduction, forest health, wildlife habitat, and provide landscape resiliency to disturbances such as wildfire and insect and disease outbreaks. Additional proposed activities include improvements to recreation, control of noxious weeds, culvert replacements for fish passage, as well as some temporary road construction, reconstruction, maintenance and some road storage and decommissioning.

The project is being developed in collaboration with the Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative to complement other landscape restoration work in the Lower Kootenai River Valley. KVRI is a collaborative group that includes the Kootenai Tribe of Idaho, Boundary County, City of Bonners Ferry, private citizens and landowners, federal and state agencies, conservation/environmental advocacy groups, and representatives of business and industry.

Kevin Knauth, Bonners Ferry District Ranger, would like to thank all stakeholders involved in the planning efforts thus far. Jennifer Anderson, Project Team Leader, will be collecting public comments for both the BLM and Forest Service.

For more information or questions about this project, please contact Jennifer at jennifer.anderson3@usda.gov or 208-267-5561.