SANDPOINT — The U.S. Forest Service met with Bonner County commissioners Tuesday, Jan. 13, to discuss active timber sales and flood damage affecting public roads. 

Sandpoint District Ranger Andrew Scowlund opened the update by reporting three active timber sales within the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. One of the sales is a commercial firewood project intended for a small operator. Scowlund said the agency anticipates additional timber sales in the upcoming year.  

Timber sales are part of the Forest Service’s broader efforts to manage the National Forest System while providing a sustained mix of resources.  

Scowlund further reported his signing of a Sandpoint South decision, a proposed initiative aimed at addressing wildfire risk in areas of Bonner and Kootenai counties. With a bigger focus on improving forest health and reducing hazardous fuels, the initiative will remove excess trees and vegetation on approximately 8,334 acres. Primary access to the project site is from U.S. Highway 95 between Athol and Sandpoint.  

“It was an environmental analysis that had been underway for some time. It is a good stroke of completing vegetation management and fuel reduction work on the southern portion of the district,” Scowlund said.  

Ranger Chris Noyes also provided an update, sharing that the agency is in the planning stages of the Highway 57 Linear Fuel Break Project. The project, while an area has not been designated yet, will include vegetation removal and hardening the designated route for ingress/egress to make the landscape more defendable for wildfires.  

Shifting to infrastructure impacts, Scowlund outlined damage caused by mid-December flooding in the county. The flooding prompted two closure orders, including closures along portions of the Upper Pack River, Forest Service Roads 231 and 293, and Forest Service Road 419 off Lightning Creek Road. 

While closure orders for Roads 231 and 293 are expected to be lifted, Scowlund said Road 419 sustained severe damage, including the washout of a 70-foot steel bridge. 

“It was a 70-foot-long steel girder bridge, with one concrete abutment,” Forest Service engineer Joe Heisel said. “From the aerial photo, you could not tell that there was a bridge there, so there's a pretty significant flow.” 

At the time of publishing, it is undetermined how the agency will proceed with road maintenance and bridge construction.