Draft natural resource policy released for comment

by Michael Howell

The Board of Commissioners released its final draft of an updated Ravalli County Natural Resource Management Plan (NRMP) at a meeting on June 10, kicking off a public comment period that will last for 30 days ending on July 10, 2025. Those comments will be used in composing a Final Draft that may be adopted sometime in August. The management policy serves as the basis for communicating and coordinating with the federal government, state government, and their agencies on land and natural resource management issues that impact the local area and economy.

The purpose of the document is to articulate the customs, culture, and natural resource values of Ravalli County; identify resources and land uses that economically or culturally affect the stability and character of the county; recognize the importance of local involvement in federal and state decision-making pertaining to natural resource management on federal and state lands; and provide guidance to the Ravalli County Board of County Commissioners.

DJ&A, a consulting company with an office in Missoula, has been coordinating the drafting process which includes a Core Team of local government representatives including Ravalli County Commissioner Jeff Burrows, County Forester Gary Oram, County Planner Rob Livesay, Civil Counsel Dillon Ratz, Office of Emergency Management Director Erik Hoover, and County Administrator Chris Taggart. Other Core Team members include the director of Ravalli County Economic Authority Julie Foster, Josh Smith from Bitterroot Resource Conservation and Development, Thayer Jacques from Montana Department of Natural Resources and Steve Brown from the Bitterroot National Forest. An initial public meeting was held on March 15 explaining the update process and initiating a public survey that got 123 responses that were used in drafting the update. 

This policy replaces the 2012 Bitterroot Valley Natural Resource Use Policy. The updated draft document incorporates many objectives and policies from the 2012 policy that relate to public land use and management. In addition to resource management objectives and strategies, this document also evaluates the current condition of a variety of natural resources, both qualitatively and quantitatively.

The 106-page document includes chapters filled with detailed information on several resource categories including Recreation and Tourism; Land Management (Timber, Fire, and Fuels); Fish and Wildlife; Water Resources; Agriculture; as well as Air/Climate, Minerals, and Soils.

DJ&A NEPA Project Manager Josh Elliot noted at the meeting  that a resource policy like the one being presented is particularly important in counties such as Ravalli County where close to three quarters of the land is federally managed by the U.S. Forest Service. He said a lot of things have changed since the existing plan was adopted in 2012, including the population, the demographics and the economy. A lot of federal and state laws governing land management have also changed. The Bitterroot National Forest is currently working on updating its own Forest Plan and the completed resource assessments and the resource management objectives and strategies for managing resources contained in this updated county policy can play an important role in that process. 

Public attendance at the June 10 meeting was sparse, but Marc Cooke from Wolves in the Rockies, a local non-profit located in Stevensville, spoke, saying his group was not anti-livestock or anti-hunting and was instrumental in getting legislation passed to compensate for livestock losses to predators such as wolves, lions and bears. He said they had spent over $11,000 on a single livestock producer in Darby who wants to live and co-exist with carnivores.

“We are putting our money where our mouth is here and across Montana,” said Cooke, adding, “Despite the myth, livestock depredation by wolves is virtually non-existent.” Montana livestock loss records show over the last five years with 19,000 cattle, only one loss has been reported in Ravalli County. He said out of four hunting districts in the county, only one was under FWP population goals. And that a FWP study done several years ago showed that carnivores were not the problem.

Cooke noted that recent legislation (HB 554) took away the authority of FWP to classify wolves as either a game animal or a fur bearer. He is afraid that in the next legislative session there will be an effort to classify them as a predator. 

“Predators play an important role in maintaining a healthy environment,” said Cooke. “They help balance the ecosystem by controlling the prey populations, promoting diversity, and preventing over-grazing. This balance is crucial for protection of our forests and our grasslands.” He said that trapping and snaring regulations for wolves are not being enforced and said trapping is an antiquated and barbaric practice that we should be moving away from.

“The dynamics in the valley are changing,” said Cooke, “There is only a handful of trappers in the valley and we need to start taking into account the majority and not just the vocal minority on this issue. The majority of people in the valley are animal watchers, not trappers and hunters, and the community plan should reflect that.”

Stevensville resident Margaret Gorski stated that 123 responses to the survey associated with the document was simply not a large enough number to be representative of the voice of the entire county and recommended they think about a more statistically valid survey of some sort that would perhaps broaden the response and help strengthen the document in terms of its use in the Forest Service’s planning process.

Skip Kowalski, Stevensville resident, urged the commissioners to take into account other documents and policies relating not just to Forest Service management plans, but on the inter-relationship of those plans and the management of private lands plans such as the Subdivision Planning Act,  the Wildlife Strategic Plan, the Wildlife Action Plan and other documents and policies that at least can show the public that there are other laws and documents that can assist in what’s being proposed here.

A copy of the document can be accessed on Ravalli County’s main website: www.ravalli.us  and scrolling down to the Homepage News Flash and clicking on DRAFT Natural Resource Management Plan. Public comment can also be entered directly by clicking on NRMP – Comment Form.  Public comments are due by July 10, 2025.