Kootenai forest officials seek comment on over-snow travel plan

Time is running out for comments to be submitted to the Kootenai National Forest on its plan for motorized over-snow planning across the forest to comply with the Travel Management Rule in the Over-snow Motorized Use Travel Plan.

Those who comment on this proposal will also have the opportunity to comment on the Environmental Assessment before a decision is issued. Specific written comments on the proposed project are most helpful if provided by Monday, Aug. 21.

Written comments must be submitted via mail, fax or in person (Monday – Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) to: Kootenai National Forest , Attn: Over-snow Motorized Travel Plan, 31374 US Highway 2, Libby, Montana 59923-3022. The fax number is 406-283-7709.

Electronic comments including attachments may be submitted electronically in word (.doc), rich text format (.rtf), text (.txt), hypertext markup language (.html), or portable document format (.pdf).

Electronic comments must be submitted by visiting the project webpage: https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public//CommentInput?Project=64358.

Under the Get Connected tab, click on Comment/Object on Project on the right side of the page.

The travel plan includes National Forest System lands on the Libby, Cabinet, Three Rivers, Fortine and Rexford Ranger Districts across the forest.

It does not include the Ten Lakes Travel Management project area (approximately 64,000 acres including the wilderness study area) because it will be covered under a separate planning effort.

Forest officials are looking at 1,257,633 acres for cross country over-snow vehicle use. Approximately 278,000 acres will be available for cross country travel from Dec. 1 to March 31, and then approximately 979,000 acres will be available for cross country travel from Dec. 1 to May 31.

Areas with a medium to high probability of supporting grizzly bear denning habitat will close to motor vehicle use on March 31 each year. All over-snow vehicles are permitted to operate within these areas during the designed seasons of use.

The preliminary proposed action also includes approximately 642 miles of over-snow trails, consisting of approximately 274 miles of groomed trails and approximately 368 miles of ungroomed trails.

The majority of the groomed trails are currently maintained through special use permits with local snowmobile clubs. Of the groomed trails, 13 (approximately 35 percent) are only groomed from Dec. 1 to March 31 to be consistent with the Forest Plan. The other groomed trails may be groomed from Dec. 1 to May 31, depending on snow conditions each year. Designated class of vehicles on groomed trails match existing permits and are fully open without restrictions.

Additional information about the preliminary proposed action and supporting information are available online at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/kootenai/?project=64358.