Forest Service holds meeting on proposed wildfire salvage project

U.S. Forest Service officials hosted a public meeting last month to discuss a forest management project that would cover a portion of the timberlands scorched by the South Yaak Fire.

During the Nov. 18 gathering, Forest Service staff at the Three Rivers Ranger District Station billed the South Yaak Fire Salvage Project as critical for removing dangerous snags, recovering timber value and reforesting land burned by wildfire northwest of Troy this summer.

The current project proposal features 624 acres of salvage logging by tractor. Project leaders suggest conducting commercial roadside hazard tree removal along three miles of road and plan to include half a mile of temporary road construction. Officials expect to see 619 acres of reforestation with salvage, and between 300 and 350 acres of reforestation without salvage.

Battling the South Yaak Fire, which grew to 12,374 acres, required firefighters to bring in heavy equipment, dig lines and take other measures that could have altered the landscape. While fire crews were responsible for rehabilitating any damage directly related to suppression efforts, Cory Farmer, fuels specialist with the Forest Service, said officials would include continued restoration work in the salvage project.

“There’s additional work we’d like to do to help some of the burned areas respond and make sure they’re secure,” Farmer told the dozen community members who showed up for the meeting.

Salvage efforts within the project area would target trees that lost their crowns to wildfire or were burned by surface fires. Harvests may include trees that are likely to die within three years.

Officials determined the three miles of commercial roadside logging, which would target trees up to 150 feet away from road shoulders, was needed to keep the public and landowners safe from hazardous trees. Through reforestation efforts, officials hope to increase the prevalence of western white pine, ponderosa pine, western larch and whitebark pine in the project area.

With some of the timber value in the area affected by the South Yaak Fire, Lisa Osborn, project leader, said the harvest in the project area would be key to retaining forest products.

Some of the community members at the gathering raised general questions about the necessity of the project, saying that wildfires and subsequent revegetation are part of a natural cycle in forests.

“I’m left with the feeling that this salvage proposal is largely economic based … to recover timber,” said Anthony South. “What are you doing in this project area that would benefit the landscape in a way that nature wouldn’t?”

In response, Forest Service officials reiterated the importance of seeding desired tree species. Managing the number of downed snags could also help improve forest health and mitigating the hazards of dead trees along roads would make the area safer. District Ranger Kirsten Kaiser noted that salvage efforts would only cover around 5 percent of the area burned by the South Yaak Fire.

The public comment period for the project scoping will run until Dec. 6.

The Three Rivers Ranger District will accept comments via mail, fax or in-person. Those with comments can mail their input to District Ranger, Three Rivers Ranger District, 12858 U.S. Highway 2, Troy, Montana 59935.

The office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. excluding holidays. Faxes may be sent to (406) 295-7410.

Interested residents can email thoughts on the project to comments-northern-kootenai-three-rivers@usda.gov.