SANDPOINT — A number of forest management activities are planned on the Sandpoint Ranger District, and U.S. Forest Service officials want to know what the public has to say.

Located southeast of Lake Pend Oreille, the Chloride Gold Project includes the Fall Creek watershed to the north and the Sawpit Creek watershed to the south.

The project area is about 43,000 acres in size, Forest Service officials said. Proposed activities include vegetation management/fuel reduction and activities to manage invasive plants, roads, trails, recreation, wildlife habitat and improve fish passage under streets.

The proposed activities would treat about 17,150 acres of vegetation using 327 vegetation treatment units, including about 5,358 acres for prescribed burning only. These proposed activities are needed to decrease hazardous fuels and improve overall landscape resiliency to disturbances such as wildfires, insect and disease outbreaks, officials said.

The goal is to improve forest health, increase the health and number of drought-resistant and fire-adapted trees, and lessen fuels which could increase fire risk in the region. In addition, the project aims to improve habitat for flammulated owls and investigate the potential to boost Harlequin duck habitat along West Gold Creek.

Another part of the project would aim to improve water quality and aquatic habitat by reducing sediment sources to area streams. Infrastructure for both motorized and non-motorized trails would be improved in an effort to reduce unauthorized use of the trails and limit sediment delivery to steams.

In several trails, ATVs and motorcycles are routed through creeks, causing sedimentation and endangering bull trout. At those locations, culverts or bridges would be constructed to get the motorized vehicles out of the stream and minimize damage to critical bull trout habitat.

In areas with large populations of clustered lady's slippers, the project would add a component to monitor the effect of various vegetations and treatment of fuels, as well as conservation efforts. The native plant is listed as vulnerable by state agencies, according to pre-scoping documents issued by the federal agency.

Among the actions proposed would be commercial thinning in just over 500 acres and pre-commercial thinning in 2,795 acres, and tree seeding in about 2,700 acres.

An abandoned timber dam on Gold Creek upstream of the Conjecture Mine would be removed. A search of Forest Service records determined the dam has no authorization or special use permit precluding its removal.

USFS officials said the more detailed and specific the comments, the better, noting that specific activities and trails should be included.

If submitted electronically, "Chloride Gold Project" should be included in the email subject line.

To submit hardcopy comments, please mail them to the Sandpoint Ranger District, 1602 Ontario St., Sandpoint, ID 83864. Attn: Doug Nishek.

The deadline to submit comments is Jan. 16, 2023.

Information: bit.ly/3HlLHSR