Lincoln County, state and federal officials recently approved a number of measures in efforts to continue the seemingly endless rebuilding work following severe damage during the flood and wind storms that plagued the county since last December.

Among them are the laborious process of getting federal and state approval for work, depending on the location of the work.

Some involved restoration efforts on the heavily damaged West Fisher Road south of Libby while others dealt with Chase Cutoff and Ross Creek near Troy.

According to approved commission minutes, during the Sept. 23 meeting, Brent Teske, Jim Hammons and Noel Duram were unanimous in their support of a short-term mining lease with Green Diamond Resources to obtain materials from the Elk Hill pit for the West Fisher Road project, reducing hauling distance and transportation costs.

They also approved a $22,000 deal with Green Diamond for an easement with the timber company to build an alternate route to relocate and repair the road, which is a county byway, following flood damage. Officials anticipate the expense will be eligible for reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The urgency for the road relocation is due to many factors, including a summer residence where the homeowners are anxious to return, Teske said. 

“There are also a number of Good Neighbor Authority logging jobs that they (Green Diamond) hasn’t been able to access all summer,” Teske said. “We couldn’t do the project after Aug. 31 because of the yellow-billed cuckoo, then we had to have surveys done for archeological, the road crew had to go through bear awareness and bear spray training, so it’s been a pretty substantial investment already just getting to this point.”

The Western yellow-billed cuckoo was federally listed in 2014 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, mainly due to habitat loss.

The road relocation will be about 1,400 feet. County planning director Jesse Haag asked about public access under the existing easement and it was noted that the existing easement will return to an unmaintained status once the new route is established.

According to county Emergency Management Director Boyd White’s Sept. 2 Facebook post, the county road department was nearing approval to begin the work repairing West Fisher Road. Due to the extent of damage, the decision was made to abandon the old road and move the location away from West Fisher Creek, which officials hope will prevent future issues which occurred in December 2025.  

“During the construction phase, there will be no public access through this area,” the post said. “This project is anticipated to take about four to five weeks. The efforts to work through getting these projects approved with state and federal partners is slow and meticulous but helps ensure that Lincoln County is reimbursed.”

In a recent interview with The Western News, White said the county road department was hoping to start work Wednesday on the West Fisher Road. He also said the work should take about five weeks.

"The easement was recently signed, so they were planning on starting today," White said.

He also said officials were turning their attention to the damage done on Bear Creek. There is one washout at Poorman Creek.

"We're working with the Forest Service on it and there will be discussion on how to proceed, replacing culverts or using a bridge," White said.

He also said hunters should not anticipate the West Fisher Road using either road for the upcoming general rifle season, which begins Oct. 24.

For the Chase Cutoff section on Lake Creek Road that endured severe stream bank erosion during the December 2025 flood, commissioners approved a maintenance agreement that allows the county to continue repair work to stabilize the stream bank on private property in the affected area. It is required for potential FEMA reimbursement. 

For work at the Ross Creek Bridge, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks approved a permit to bring the structure back to pre-flood conditions to prevent flooding and potential bridge washout when future high water events occur.

The state Stream Protection Act requires a permit, referred to as the SPA 124 permit, for any agency or subdivision of state, county or city government proposing a project that may affect the beds or banks of any stream in Montana.

During the flood, the county, in an emergency action removed large volumes of rock, sand, gravel and cobbles from the stream bed and stockpiled onsite to maintain flow under the bridge and prevent washouts. 

But more bed load remains in the creek channel which diminishes the flow capacity of the bridge and creek crossing. The county’s plan is to restore the stream bed elevation near the bridge, about 100 feet upstream and 230 feet downstream, to pre-flood conditions.

FWP issued its permit decision notice Sept. 15 for bedload removal from Ross Creek. White said work has begun there. There are also discussions among multiple agencies and the county about other work that would address other issues, chiefly a good-size log jam as well as landslides that put more rock into the stream bed and has diverted water near Highway 56 during flooding.

According to the notice, the agency would have typically made the draft environmental analysis available for public review and comment. But in this circumstance, the Montana Environmental Policy Act’s required public process for projects of this nature is impacted by a competing statutory deadline. 

“FWP determined the proposed action will not have significant adverse impacts on the human environment associated with the proposed action and constitutes a reasonable and appropriate strategy to achieve identified objectives,” wrote FWP Region 1 Supervisor Amber Steed.

According to information in the FWP notice, county contractor CTC Disaster Response plans to access locations outside the guardrail to remove the material.

CTC’s goal is to limit the number of times equipment, such as metal-tracked excavators and skid steers, to remove rocks and debris. FWP officials said the creek was dry at the time the permit was sought.

A Morooka tracked haul vehicle will transport the material to the road where it will be loaded into commercial dump and haul trucks. The material will be hauled to the county road department’s St. Regis pit.

CTC was approved by county commissioners in March for disaster debris removal and disposal services.

A review committee used an evaluation to score the companies which bid for the contract. While cost was a key factor, Nikki Fox, the former county administrative assistant, said at the time that all of the companies were highly recommended. 

CTC Disaster has offices in the South, including Missouri, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida.

According to information on its website, ctcdisaster.com, the company was founded in 2005 and has been involved in more than 200 separate contracts spanning 30 states for hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, ice storms, wind and snowstorms.

In 2026, CTC was acquired by Joe Sunderland of Sunderland Trucking, also based in Missouri.