Forest officials are planning a fuels reduction tree harvest in south Lincoln County just outside Libby city limits later this year.

Kootenai National Forest Libby Ranger District has proposed a project in the Bobtail and Lower Pipe Creek areas that would include logging on nearly 3,000 acres of federal land in a tract of nearly 3,600 acres.

The area is west of Highway 37 and north of Kootenai River Road. While there are state, county and private lands mixed within the project area, only federal lands are included.

The forest thinning project is called “Pine Phlats” and forest officials have opened a period for public comment that ends Jan. 17.

The proposed project area is within a “priority area” designated in the 2020 Montana Forest Action plan for high fire risk and forest health concerns. The communities at risk in the area include Bobtail, Bobtail Cutoff, Sheldon Flats, Pipe Creek and Doak Creek.

Forest officials say climate change is impacting forests in various ways. The combination of higher temperatures, lower snowpack and more consecutive hot days has and will continue to impact soil moisture and drought stress. Drought-stressed vegetation is more susceptible to insect outbreaks and leads to higher fire risk. Insects and diseases such as Western pine beetle, pine engraver beetle and root disease present in the project area and have the potential to capitalize on stressed stands and cause widespread mortality.

In the 2023 Lincoln County Community Wildfire Protection Plan, it reported, “The model showed the City of Libby and the many small subdivisions west of Libby are at extreme risk from wildfire. The area south of Libby along US Hwy 2 and Farm to Market Road also displayed as having extreme risk, as did areas north of Libby and up Pipe Creek Road.”

On July 20, 2022, the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners passed Resolution 2022-19, declaring a countywide emergency for forest health and wildland fire threat, expecting active management to address the emergency, this document is in the project file. 

Concurrently, the commissioners requested consideration of Cooperating Agency status on Kootenai National Forest projects impacting the Lincoln County WUI. In response, the Kootenai National Forest offered participation in all hazardous fuel projects within the WUI and specifically granted Lincoln County cooperating agency status for the Pine Phlats project, located in the project file. 

The proposal, a map and supporting documentation is available on-line at: www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=67057.

The project, if approved, would begin as soon as June. Nearly 2,400 acres would see commercial harvest while non-commercial harvest would occur on about 585 acres.

Libby District Ranger Nathan Gassman is leading the project. In the proposal, he estimated about seven miles of temporary roads will be built to access several units within the project area.

Once the work is done, the roads would be returned to their condition before the harvest.

It’s been less than a decade since the lighting-caused West Fork Fire burned more than 20,000 acres in the Quartz Creek and Bobtail Ridge areas. It forced evacuations for some people living in the area and caused a number of road closures before late September rain doused the fires. 

That fire endangered dozens of homes and saw sprinkler systems used in several yards of residences located in the area.

The 2017 fire season in Montana was one of the worst in state history, burning 1.4 million acres and costing nearly $400,000 to suppress.

Dan Rose, then the Kootenai National Forest’s fire management officer, said at a public meeting in early September that despite a wet fall and snowy winter, Libby had only 3/100 of an inch of rain since June 27.

At the time, Dan Savage was the KNF Supervisor. He said, “We have not seen conditions like these in almost 50 years.”

Those interested in submitting a comment on the current proposal, may do so by the following methods:

- Electronic comments can be submitted through Comment Analysis and Response Application (CARA) using the following web address: www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=67075. On the right side of the page under the Get Connected tab click on Comment/Object on Project and then submit your comments via the form on this page. 

- Written comments must be submitted via mail, fax, or in person (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding holidays) to: District Ranger, Libby Ranger District, 12557 US Highway 37, Libby, Montana 59923, Phone: 406-283-7598. 

For those with questions, they may be directed to Lisa Osborn, Project Leader, at 406-405-1792 or email lisa.osborn@usda.gov, or Nate Gassmann, District Ranger, at 406-283-7598 or Nathan.gassmann@usda.gov.