Plan to create fuel breaks may have some opposition

With fire season approaching its apex, and Lincoln County mercifully safe from the worst of the season’s fires, Ed Levert hasn’t taken a break.

The Lincoln County Forester has plans to keep parts of the county safe from wildfires. He just needs a little help from local politicians.

Bowen Hill, southwest of Libby, is a fire hazard, warns Levert, and needs fire-abatement and fuel breaks to keep properties safe in case of fire. Other hot spots that have grants are the West Kootenai, near Eureka, and Lake Creek in Troy.

It’s not that the forest management plans don’t have risks of their own.

“It’s a double-edged sword,” Levert said. “It’s a fire hazard, but if logged, people might be concerned about soil erosion.”

Peggy Williams, city councilwoman, spoke to The Western News after Mayor Doug Roll deferred comments to her. Williams wanted to speak as a private citizen and not as a public official.

“My concern is to not destabilize the hill,” she said. Williams is business manager of KLCB, located at the base of the hill. “The hydrology of the slope has to be taken into account.”

The potential erosion, Levert said, could be a pittance compared to the fire risk. A fire on the ridge so near Libby might wipe out any sort of natural protection from landslides and the like anyway.

Williams claims the hill already has a history of sliding, even without the potential destabilization logging might bring.

It’s a tricky situation with many variables, and it depends not only on property owners consenting to logging on their land, but also on city officials agreeing to pay some of the money.

The grant for Libby would pay half of the estimated cost of fuel breaks, but that would still leave half the expense in Libby’s hands. 

“The whole thing is full of unknowns,” Levert said. “And the minute you start doing something in the city, politicians might tuck their head into a shell. Who wants to take a risk at all?”

The grants in Eureka and Troy are 75/25 grants, making them more appealing, as three-quarters of the cost are paid by grant.

The goal of this project is not just to utilize the several hundred-thousand board feet on the ridge south of Libby, but also to create needed fuel breaks to prevent properties from going up in flames.