By Michael Howell
The Bitterroot National Forest is inviting the public to review and make comments on a proposed vegetation management and fuels reduction project in the Sapphire Mountains east of Corvallis. The Gold Butterfly project proposes harvest and thinning, slash piling, and prescribed burning on approximately 10,495 acres of National Forest lands on the east side of the Bitterroot valley.
The Bitterroot National Forest is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed project under the authorities in the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) as amended by the Agricultural Act of 2014. The Gold Butterfly EIS will analyze and disclose the effects of treatments proposed in the Sapphire Mountains between the confluence of Gold Creek and Burnt Fork of the Bitterroot River to the north and Saint Clair Creek to the south.
The Gold Butterfly project area is bounded on the west by the National Forest boundary with private land and on the east by the Stoney Mountain Inventoried Roadless Area (IRA). The project area is located about 10 miles southeast of Stevensville and seven miles east of Corvallis.
According to Stevensville District Ranger Tami Sabol, the objectives of the project include improving forest resilience to natural disturbances brought on by fire, insects and diseases; managing timber to provide forest products, jobs and income to local communities; reducing chronic sediment sources in Willow Creek and Burnt Fork o the Bitterroot watersheds; and restoring or improving key habitats such as meadows, aspen, and whitebark pine.
Approximately 9,500 acres of the project have been designated an insect and disease treatment area due to dense pockets of dead and dying trees. The area is impacted by mountain pine beetle, Douglas-fir bark beetle and dwarf mistletoe and western spruce budworm damage. Proposed treatments include commercial timber harvest, non-commercial thinning, and prescribed burning to improve forest health.
The Bitterroot Community Wildfire Protection Plan also identified the area as a ‘high priority’ for fuels reduction within the Wildland Urban Interface.
The project includes road improvements, construction, decommissioning, and storage of routes. Most of the roads proposed for decommissioning are already closed to motorized use.
According to Bitterroot National Forest Public Affairs Officer Tod McKay, the project proposal includes a timber harvest that will be packaged in three to five different sales. It is the biggest harvest proposed on the forest in decades and close to 20,000 truckloads are expected to be hauled over the forest and county roads.
District Ranger Tami Sabol said that improving the road system in the area prior to log hauling was a planned part of the project. In fact, a public field trip had already been scheduled for July 10 and one of the planned stops was to be at the site of the latest blow-out to discuss the road conditions and the need for improvements. The date of the field trip has been postponed and the closing of the public comment period will be moved to two weeks after the field trip.
Sabol said that the agency was considering new drainage designs and possibly the use of bentonite in making drainage improvements. She said one of the aims of the project was to reduce sediment in the streams. Bull trout, an endangered species, are found in both Burnt Fork and Willow creeks and they aim to improve the Bull trout habitat whenever possible.
Another unique aspect of this project, according to Sabol, is the chance to do a study of the whitebark pine. Some study plots are being created on Willow Mountain to study the effects of white pine blister rust which is killing the whitebark pines. White pine blister rust is apparently native to Asia. It has been introduced to Europe and then North America. In North America it has invaded most white pine areas and is still making progress into the Southwest and into southern California.
The project also proposes to relocate two trailheads in the area including the Willow Creek trailhead. A kiosk and hitching posts are proposed to be added to the Gold Creek Campground up the Burnt Fork.
None of this will happen very soon. A final decision is not expected until November of 2018.
Sabol said that HFRA projects require an extra degree of collaboration and that public involvement was a major part of the process.
The collaborative project is proposed under the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) as amended by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill).
To learn more about the project and to view maps visit www.fs.usda.gov/bitterroot. Click on ‘NEPA Projects’.
Only individuals or entities who submit timely and specific written comments about the proposed project during the public comment period will be eligible to file an objection.
Submit comments to the Responsible Official: Tami Sabol, District Ranger, by one of the following methods; mail: 88 Main Street, Stevensville, MT 59870. Fax: (406) 777-7423, or email: comments-northern-bitterroot-stevensville@fs.fed.us. Comments should include: 1) name, address, phone number, and organization represented, if any; 2) title of project on which the comments are being submitted; and 3) substantive comments including specific facts and supporting information for the District Ranger to consider.
For more information contact project leaders Sara Grove at (406) 375-2608 or sgrove@fs.fed.us or Marilyn Wildey at (406) 363-7101 or mwildey@fs.fed.us.