Kootenai Forest Stakeholders Coalition to talk grizzlies

The Kootenai Forest Stakeholders Collaborative will hold its second quarterly board meeting Thursday at the Lincoln County campus of Flathead Valley Community College in Libby.

The meeting is open to the public from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Meeting attendees will hear updates from board sub-committees and a panel style discussion with select speakers on the topic of grizzly bears and road management.

The coalition is a collaborative group founded in 2006, made of people with diverse interests and backgrounds, including timber, conservation, recreation, local business people and elected officials.

In 2015, the coalition agreed upon a set of Forest Management Guidelines to ensure sustainable and predictable timber production, recreational access and propose wilderness designation in some of the Kootenai’s last remaining truly wild and roadless lands.

The KFSC Agreement is focused on sustaining and bolstering local timber production on the KNF. Current timber harvest levels produce approximately 50 million board feet of timber per year on the KNF.

Its recommendations support the current KNF forest plan timber harvest levels of 70 – 90 million board feet per year, while also protecting what makes the Kootenai special – clean water, secure wildlife habitat, and backcountry motorized and non-motorized recreation opportunities.

For those who prefer to attend virtually, the link for the Zoom is https://jubengineers.zoom.us/j/5825824444.

The meeting ID is 582 582 4444.

Also, for one tap mobile to connect, +12532050468,,5825824444# US or +12532158782,,5825824444# US (Tacoma) or dial by your location • +1 253 205 0468 US or • +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma).

Here is the schedule:

6:05 p.m. - Kootenai National Forest updates from Supervisor Chad Benson

6:15 p.m. - Grizzly bears and road management, including a biological report, panel discussion and question and answer session involving Wayne Kasworm, Ed Levert, Tim Dougherty and Bob Castaneda.

7 p.m. - Update on the status of legal representative of U.S. Forest Service/DOJ/OGC by Tim Dougherty

7:10 p.m. - Committee updates on education and outreach, funding, recreation legislation and district subcommittees.

For more information about the meeting, contact facilitator Tracy Ortiz at 208-797-1649 or at tortiz@langdongroupinc.com.

For more information about the coalition, go to http://www.kootenaifuture.org/about-us/.