Rangers tour new forest service projects

The Plains-Thompson Falls Ranger District along with the Superior Ranger District hosted a field trip Oct. 3 through the Cutoff Viewshed of Lolo National Forest, which runs down Highway 135.

The field trip was attended by members of the community as well as Forest Service representatives to help answer any questions anyone had about the things they were seeing.

The Cutoff River Corridor runs along Highway 135 between St. Regis and Paradise and is a Scenic Byway. The Plains-Thompson Falls and Superior Ranger Districts have are working together on an ecosystem management project that will help to improve the area.

There are several purposes of this project, according to Plains-Thompson Falls District Ranger Randy Hojem. One such purpose is to enhance recreation opportunities and resource protection at high-use recreation sites. The Cutoff Viewshed, along with that area of the Clark Fork River is designated as a Recreational River, which means it can be used for recreational purposes, such as boating and fishing. They are also looking to restore the composition of forested stands and feature mature serial species including ponderosa pine and larch and they want to reestablish fire as a natural process on the low elevation benchlands.

Hojem also said that they are hoping to improve aquatic habitats in the Clark Fork River as well as to improve winter time highway safety.

“This road is notorious for black ice, especially in the fall and spring,” Hojem said. “Part of what we'd want to do is remove overhanging tree cover to prevent the road from being so shady.”

There are six spots that on Highway 135 that the ranger districts are focusing their attention on. The first three spots are under the jurisdiction of the Superior Ranger District, with the final three under the Plains-Thompson Falls Ranger District, however, the districts are working together on all of the projects.

The first area was near Donlan Flats and is the site of a land exchange the Forest Service is negotiating with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

“We're trading lands with the DNRC to consolidate Forest Service land, centering especially around Superior,” Hojem said.

The land exchange will come up for public comment likely by December, Hojem said and then will hopefully happen in February of 2009. By doing this exchange the Forest Service will be able to give up lands on the outskirts of Lolo National Forest and pick up lands that are more centralized.

The second stop was at Donlan Flats, where the Forest Service hopes to restore forested stands. Hojem said it was important to consider the view from the river corridors as well as the highway.

Bruce Erickson of the Superior Ranger District said that “there is a variety of end results that we could have here, depending on what we want the end result to look like.”

Hojem said that most of the trees in this area are too skinny to support themselves and the weight of snow in the winter, so all of the little stuff would go, creating more open areas.

The third area on the stop is an area called The Peninsula, and one of the biggest concerns in this area was the lack of a substantial road and a railroad crossing. According to Beth Kennedy of the Superior Ranger District, the area is heavily used for camping and fishing, however because there is not an actual road, it can create safety concerns. In the spring, ambulances would not be able to get down there in case there was an emergency.

The Peninsula is currently DNRC land, however, it will be part of the land exchange when that is scheduled to take place. Kennedy was asked about the funding for the area and she expressed frustration that they cannot use any federal money for it.

“This is a Forest Scenic Byway, not a national one,” she said. “Montana did not want national scenic byways, so we can't use any federal money for this project.”

The fourth stop and the first one under the Plains-Thompson Falls jurisdiction was at Muchwater Flat. The main issue the ranger districts want to address here are forest restoration and the reintroduction of fire in the area. Hojem said that while fire can be devastating, it is also a natural process and can be beneficial to the area. They also want to focus on wildlife habitat improvements and road management and resource impacts at high used recreation sites.

“This whole area is used for recreation and that is something we definitely need to keep in mind,” Kennedy said.

The fifth stop was at the Cascade Campground and the main proposal the Forest Service had for this area was to make sure that the area near this well developed recreation area was restored. They said that they want people to be able to enjoy the area, but the forest also needs to be protected as well.

The last stop on the trip was at Siegel Creek, where the focus will be on watershed and forest restoration. Hojem said that with the recreation uses of the area, they need to take special care of the area to make sure the beauty of it lasts. “We just need to keep things as natural as possible, even with the recreation use,” he said.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 2010, if everything goes according to plan. The Forest Service representatives said they are very excited about what they can do in the Cutoff Viewshed.

“We're really looking forward to the opportunity to improve some of the features that we already have,” Kennedy said.