More than 500 acres of trees downed in December’s windstorms are slated for salvage, say Flathead National Forest officials.

Dead, damaged and downed trees will be removed from six units along Reid Divide, about 10 miles west of Whitefish, and three units near Grouse Mountain, about nine miles west of Olney, as part of the Rad Reid Blowdown Salvage Project. One temporary road about three-fourths of a mile in length will be constructed to reach stands southwest of Tally Lake. 

The project is expected to yield about 4 million metric board feet of timber, primarily from Douglas fir, spruce and lodgepole pine. If approved, the salvage operations are expected to begin in the fall. 

The 512 acres included in the Rad Reid Blowdown Salvage Project represent a small proportion of the timber damaged by the strong winds that swept through Northwest Montana in December. 

Rob Davies, district ranger for Hungry Horse and Glacier View, told Flathead County Commissioners at a May 21 meeting that about 3,000 cubic feet of timber have already added to existing harvest contracts in the district to address the excess blowdown. Another 250 acres of what Davies described as “concentrated blowdown” will likely go up for auction later this year, including about 100 acres in the Coal Banks area of the North Fork, 50 acres near Firefighter Mountain and 100 acres near the Spotted Bear airstrip. 

Crews recently spent two weeks clearing debris from the main roads on either side of Hungry Horse Reservoir and are now making headway on the districts’ side roads, said Davies. 

“We keep discovering more blowdown, but the effort’s been really good,” he told commissioners.   

Comments on the Rad Reid Blowdown Salvage project are being accepted through June 15. Comments may be emailed to [email protected] with “Rad Reid Blowdown Salvage” in the subject line. 

Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at 406-758-4433 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.