Kootenai Stakeholders still looking to get legislation passed
After a series of open houses in the area, the Kootenai Stakeholders Coalition is still cohesively and collaboratively working to get legislation passed.
Last year, the coalition agreed to a 17-page forest-wide proposal comprised of timber harvest guidelines, recreation and wilderness amongst the Kootenai wilderness.
Since then, they’ve held public meetings in Troy, Noxon, Libby and Eureka to give community members the opportunity to voice opinions, concerns and ask questions.
The proposal encourages a 70 mmbf – 90 mmbf of annual timber harvest, active management within general forest acres on lands designated as not suitable for timber production, landscape scale evaluations preceding projects, evaluation of movement towards vegetation desired conditions, old growth distribution and recruitment at the landscape scale, whitebark pine restoration, western white pine restoration, northern Rockies lynx management, using natural fire regimes to guide project level patterns, stand level treatment considerations for different types of habitats and project level sideboards for treatments occurring within old growth, regeneration harvests, thinning overstocked stands, post-fire salvage and considerations for soils
While the coalition deems the proposal a “big step,” they still are adjusting the details and hope to have something passed through the federal legislature within the coming months.
The 10-year-old coalition has been steeped in conversations to develop a list of guidelines for the past seven years, simultaneously working on individual projects with the U.S. Forest Service.
Their individual projects include the Young Growth, East Reservoir, Starry Goat, Pinkham Creek and the Flower Creek Projects.
These plans, as well as the the list of guidelines, are tweaked over time amongst the diverse group of people from across the county that come from an array of organizations and backgrounds. The coalition is comprised of people from the Yaak Valley Forest Council, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks, the timber industry, hunter, hikers, county government, snowmobilers and ATV riders.
They have 15 general, voting members and an executive board, each of which can be on a subcommittee that work on individual projects. They hold public meetings every three months, during which they go around in a circle and introduce themselves, hold committee and subcommittee reports and discuss other, related topics.
As someone who’s worked on the “other side,” Secretary of the coalition Ed Lavert said he sees himself as more of a middle ground in the stakeholders. Lavert, who’s retired from the U.S. Forest Service and the current Lincoln County Forester, has been working with the stakeholders since it began in 2006.
On the conservation side, members of the Montana Wilderness Association are also actively involved in the coalition.
“It’s fun for everyone to see success, and for people to come together and see everyone’s values,” said Amy Robinson of the Montana Wilderness Association and a member of the stakeholders for four years. “It’s hopeful and empowering to be a part of that.”
A lot of work lies ahead, but the coalition members are proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish while working to make everyone happy — a daunting task that has seemingly works for them.
Their next meeting is from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 15 in the Libby Superintendent’s Office Conference Room located on 724 Louisiana Ave.