The Montana Land Board this week approved the 481-acre Dog Rock Timber Sale on state trust lands near Olney.  

The project authorizes the removal of nearly 3.5 million board feet of timber from the area over the next four years, with proceeds from the sale going toward state trusts for Common Schools, Public Buildings, Montana State University and Pine Hills School. The total minimum bid is $396,437.    

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is mandated to sell about 60 million board feet of timber each year to fund public schools in the state. This year, the agency has put about 62.7 million board feet of timber up for sale, collecting about $7.64 million in bids. 

If sold, the Dog Rock Timber Sale will be one of the largest timber projects on state lands in Northwest Montana. Earlier this year, the Department of Natural Resources offered 4.4 million board feet of timber in the Swift Stryke sale east of Olney, but no timber companies submitted bids for the project. 

Other largescale timber projects in the area have hit stumbling blocks in the courtroom. Several wildlife nonprofits filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service in January after the federal agency approved a 12,331-acre logging project near Whitefish. The area marked for treatment included lynx critical habitat and grizzly bear secure core habitat. 

While smaller in size, the Dog Rock Timber Sale would alter approximately 596 acres of grizzly bear recovery habitat and 622 acres of suitable lynx habitat, according to the project’s environmental assessment. The document notes that more than 75% of the total 5,850-acre project area will remain suitable habitat for both species. The overall effect on key wildlife species, including grizzly bears, lynx, fishers, elk, deer, moose, pileated woodpeckers and hoary bats was rated as low. 

The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation is accepting bids on the project Dec. 9, 2025. The selected timber company is expected to operate in the area between July 1 and March 31 through Sept. 30, 2029. 

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at 758-4433 or [email protected].