Public comments sought for local environmental projects

The Mineral County Resource Coalition held their monthly meeting on Tuesday, February 2 in Superior. MSU Extension Agent, Kevin Chamberlain, chaired the committee. He said that he was glad to see people from several different departments and industry at the table.

Chamberlain said, “it’s important to hear the voice of the community regarding issues that impact us all directly, before final decisions are made on projects.”

The coalition consisted of 14 members including Carole Johnson and Beth Kennedy from the Forest Service, Dennis Hildebrand, Jim DeBree, Denley Loge from the Resource Advisory Committee (RAC), County Commissioner, Duane Simons, George Regan, Bobby Carroll, Carol Young from the St. Regis School Board, Angelo Ververis from Tricon, Emily Park, John Cochran, and Dave Hattis from the Sanders County Forest Service.

One of the first items on the agenda was to get the word out that there is a public comment period for the “12 Tamarack Project”. Superior District Ranger, Carole Johnson, gave an update on the project, which is located northwest of St. Regis. It includes Twelvemile Creek, Tamarack Creek, Mullan Gulch, and Boyd Mountain. According to project documents it involves the “integrated forest resource project that includes vegetation management, big game winter range maintenance, watershed improvements, fuels reduction, and recreation enhancements within the 69,000-acre project area located north and west of St. Regis.”

The public notice was posted in the Missoulian on January 28, and the comment period will end 45 days from that notice.

Murphy Creek is another project that is currently requesting public comment. The comment period for this project will end February 12. It is located along the paved Southside Road #69 between Dry and Thompson Creeks, approximately four miles northwest of Superior and 11 miles southeast of St. Regis.

According to project documents, it involves “vegetation and recreation management activities on 120 acres to reduce bark beetle susceptibility and respond to public desires for a gentle, non-motorized trail near communities.”

Beth Kennedy gave an update on her departments activities. Which included the Midnight Riders Snowmobile Club’s annual poker run which was held on Saturday, January 30, in Haugan. She said the event had 280 registered riders, plus additional riders who didn’t buy a poker hand. She said the event is an economic boost for that end of the county. She also updated everyone on the new Next Exit History app which was created in conjunction with the Mineral County Historical Society and the Department of Tourism. It is an app that can be downloaded to any device, like a smart phone, and gives visitors to the area a historical tour of the county. She is hoping to add some information to the app. For example, she would like to see the the Savanac Nursery’s walking tours added, along with some additional old mine sites. Kennedy also mentioned that they have their resident volunteer campground hosts hired for this summer.

Johnson discussed the Lookout Pass ski hill expansion and that there will be public open houses on March 22-24 in Couer d’Alene, Wallace, and De Borgia. Information regarding the expansion can also be found on the fs.usda.gov website.

She also said that they need to prepare for a thirty percent budget decline in their trail budget over the next three years. The reason for the decline is that the funds are being distributed by “populations served” and that Region One does not have a very high population.

Johnson also reported on Bonneville Power who will be installing a new fiber optics line from Taft to Bald Mountain, which is at the top of Dominion. It will be an aerial installation until it gets to Rainy Creek and then it go underground.

Plains District Ranger David Hattis was invited to discuss projects in his area, along with some of the joint projects they are working on in conjunction with Mineral County. Hattis also commented that he would like to see the Mineral County Coalition meet with members of Sanders County since they work on projects together.