Forest officials continue assessing wind-damaged areas

Recent intense windstorms have swept across the Kootenai National Forest, leaving several areas, across all land ownerships, heavily impacted. 

While wind events are a common and important disturbance dynamic for forest ecosystems, these recent events resulted in unprecedented levels of downed trees and woody debris across the forest. 

Forest Service officials are taking action to evaluate and quickly address the blowdown areas to provide for public safety, to improve forest health, reduce the increased wildfire risk and identify commercial opportunities.

Forest service personnel, in cooperation with state, county, and local partners, are focusing on identifying the priority areas to outline the most immediate needs. 

To accomplish this quickly, data from a full forest fixed-wing reconnaissance flight, along with footage from drone and helicopter flights, is being utilized to gain more information on the highest impacted areas and road systems and the overall forest conditions. 

Decisions on which areas will be addressed first are made with public safety being the main concern then forest health, followed by finding all opportunities for recovering salvageable timber value.

In addition to wildfire risks, downed trees and heavy fuel loads can also provide fertile habitat for non-native and invasive species and other destructive pests, adding further long-term impacts from the storm that may be difficult to address the longer the trees remain on the ground. 

Allowing commercial salvage of downed trees has the benefit of reducing the risk of severe wildfire and improving forest health conditions as well as providing economic benefits for local communities. 

Companies interested in bidding for potential salvage timber contracts can visit the Kootenai National Forest Timber Sale page. Additionally, further notices of public opportunities for firewood, decks sales or other sales will be posted if available.

Forest crews are working to open and clear road systems as quickly as possible, to allow for safe, public access. The public is urged to use caution when accessing the forest, as many roads and trails were heavily impacted by the winter flooding and wind events, with the potential to still have down or hazard trees, washouts, or water on the surface. 

Please check the Kootenai National Forest Alerts page for any closure orders that are in effect for areas you plan to visit. 

To report any unknown hazard areas, please call the respective District Office or the Supervisor’s Office at 406-293-6211. 

The USDA Forest Service has for more than 100 years brought people and communities together to answer the call of conservation. Grounded in world-class science and technology – and rooted in communities – the Forest Service connects people to nature and to each other. 

The Forest Service cares for shared natural resources in ways that promote lasting economic, ecological and social vitality. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, maintains the largest wildland fire and forestry research organizations in the world. 

The Forest Service also has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 900 million forested acres within the U.S., of which over 130 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.