The U.S. Forest Service has approved a 7,700-acre forestry project west of Hungry Horse Reservoir. 

About 2,000 acres will undergo commercial treatments using mechanized ground or cable methods, resulting in the production of about 6.25 million board feet of timber over several years. About 93% of areas proposed for these forms of treatment have been historically harvested, according to the project’s environmental assessment.  

Another 5,703 acres is slated for noncommercial vegetation treatments, including 4,654 acres of prescribed burning and 873 acres of whitebark pine restoration treatments. About 2,550 acres of prescribed burns and 770 acres of whitebark pine restoration will occur in Inventoried Roadless Areas. Another 100 acres of whitebark pine restoration will occur in recommended wilderness areas in the Jewel Basin. 

The undertaking, known as the West Reservoir Project, will add 4.7 miles of roads to the forest’s existing network. 

Work is expected to begin this summer. 

Like many of Flathead National Forest’s recent projects, the West Reservoir Project was approved under an emergency action determination created by the Trump administration in April 2025. The designation allows officials to forgo analysis of alternative prescription options on forestlands that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated as high risk for fire danger or declines in forest health. 

In the final decision notice, officials stated that the project may adversely affect threatened bull trout and grizzly bear populations in the short-term. 

Sedimentation from project activities may increase turbidity in critical bull trout spawning and rearing habitats, though the project’s environmental assessment notes that “effects are not anticipated to be distinguishable from those related to wave action or reservoir operations and would be limited to temporary displacement.” 

Grizzly bears are likewise subject to short-term disturbances from increased human activity in core habitat areas, including motorized use of new Forest Service roads. Project activities will cease during the spring to allow grizzly bears to safely den in the area, and roads constructed during the project will be treated to be impassable once activities cease. 

The decision notice also stated that project activities may adversely affect whitebark pine, which is listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. A spokesperson for Flathead National Forest did not respond to a request for comment on potential impacts to whitebark pine by deadline. 

The Forest Service is required to consult with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure project activities will not jeopardize endangered and threatened species. Under emergency action determinations, this process is permitted to occur informally behind closed doors. 

The project as a whole was found to pose no significant impact to the environment. 

“I took a hard look at the environmental effects of the proposed action evaluated in the environmental assessment and supported by the project record,” wrote Flathead National Forest Supervisor Anthony Botello in the final decision notice. “As a result, I have determined the selected alternative will not have a significant effect on the quality of the human environment based on the context and intensity of its impacts.” 

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