The Bitterroot National Forest has released its Draft Record of Decision (ROD) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Gold Butterfly Project, a proposed vegetation management and fuels reduction project in the Sapphire Mountains east of Corvallis. The project is located on the Stevensville and Darby Ranger Districts between St. Clair Creek to the south and Burnt Fork Creek to the north.
Forest Supervisor Matt Anderson has selected Alternative 2, modified. The selected alternative would:
• Improve forest resilience to natural disturbances (fire, insects, and diseases).
• Reduce chronic sediment sources in Willow Creek watershed to improve water quality and bull trout habitat.
• Restore or improve key habitats including meadows, aspen, and whitebark pine.
• Manage timber to provide forest products, jobs, income to local communities.
Proposed treatments include commercial timber harvest, non-commercial thinning, and prescribed burning to improve forest health. The selected alternative was modified to retain old growth status in all treatment units.
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, dwarf mistletoe and western spruce budworm damage.
The Bitterroot Community Wildfire Protection Plan also identified the area as a ‘high priority’ for fuels reduction in the Wildland Urban Interface.
More information about the Gold Butterfly Project, including the Draft ROD and FEIS is available online at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=51486 and at the Stevensville Ranger District and Forest Supervisor’s Office in Hamilton.
The draft decision is subject to public objection under Code of Federal Regulations §218. Objections may only be filed by those who previously submitted comments on the project. All objections must be submitted to the Forest Service by August 2, 2019.
Objections may be delivered or mailed to: USDA Forest Service, Northern Region, ATTN: Objection Reviewing Officer, 26 Fort Missoula Road, Missoula, MT 59804. Electronic objections may be submitted to: appeals-northern-regional-office@fs.fed.us. Faxed objections may be submitted to (406) 329-3411. Specify “Gold Butterfly Project Objection” in the subject line.
Hand delivered objections must be delivered between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. weekdays, excluding holidays. All objections are open to public inspection and will be posted to the Forest Service website.
For additional information, contact Danelle Highfill, Acting District Ranger, Stevensville Ranger District, at 406-777-5461, or Jeff Shearer, Interdisciplinary Team Leader, at 406-375-2608.