Forest officials consider East Fork Fire logging project

The Rexford and Fortine Ranger Districts, Kootenai National Forest, have drafted an Environmental Assessment for the “East Fork Sunday Fire Salvage and Restoration Project.” 

This project is located 12 miles south of Trego. Forest officials are requesting comments from the public on this draft environmental assessment. It is available on the Kootenai National Forest Website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/kootenai/?project=65292. 

The project area includes the area burned by the 2023 East Fork Fire. The East Fork Fire started on July 30, 2023, from a lightning strike. The fire burned approximately 5,259 acres on both the Kootenai and Flathead National Forests.

This proposal would only address activities on the Kootenai National Forest. All activities would comply with the 2015 Kootenai National Forest Land Management Plan.  

The project considers salvage harvest of dead and dying trees, post-harvest fuel treatment, thinning from below in stands without a commercial component, and the use of temporary roads to access treatment units within the project area.

Specific written comments on the Draft Environmental Assessment will be accepted for 30 calendar days following publication of this notice in the Missoulian (Missoula, Montana), anticipated Aug. 20. The publication date in the newspaper of record is the exclusive means for calculating the comment period. 

Written comments must be submitted via mail, fax or in person (Monday – Friday 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, excluding holidays) to District Ranger, Eureka Ranger Station, 949 US Highway 93N, Eureka, MT 59917, FAX: (406) 296-7188.

Electronic comments must be submitted by visiting the project webpage: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=65292 and under the Get Connected tab, click on Comment/Object on Project on the right side of the page.

Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names and addresses of those who comment, will be considered part of the public record for this project and will be available for public inspection.

The KNF intends to request an Emergency Situation Determination from the Chief of the Forest Service. If granted, an ESD would waive the 45-day pre-decisional administrative review process commonly referred to as the objection period. If an ESD is not granted, the opportunity to object to the project would remain.

An open house will be held at the Murphy Lake Ranger Station, 12797 Highway 93 South, Fortine, Montana 59918 on Thursday, Aug. 29, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Specialists will be present to answer questions about the project.

For more information, contact team leader Moira McKelvey at 406-283-7679 or moira.mckelvey@usda.gov or Seth Carbonari, District Ranger, at 406-296-7145 or seth.carbonari@usda.gov.