Forest Service plans thinning project on Cruzane Mountain
Mineral Independent
The Lolo National Forest has issued the draft decision notice for the Cruzane Mountain project, a 3,790-acre project located on the Superior Ranger District in Mineral County, about three miles west of Haugen and northeast of Saltese.
The Cruzane Mountain project area mostly falls within the wildland-urban interface and has been impacted by insect and disease, creating unhealthy forest conditions that are at-risk of severe wildfire.
The project would improve these conditions by removing dead and diseased vegetation and promoting wildfire-resilient and insect-resistant tree species.
“The selected alternative will decrease the risk of high-severity wildfire in key areas nearby communities,” said Carole Johnson, Superior District Ranger. “The suite of management tools will work together to not only improve the forest health but prepare the landscape for disturbances such as wildfire and insects in the future.”
The project will utilize a variety of management tools to improve forest health conditions such as commercial regeneration harvests on 981 acres where large, legacy ponderosa pine, western larch and western white pine would be left to promote a fire-resilient species composition.
Additionally, 471 acres of commercial thinning would work to reduce stand density and promote the growth of healthy trees; 77 acres of pre-commercial thinning would support the growth of healthy young trees; and 13 acres of improvement cuts would be used to shift forest species composition to longer lived, wildfire-resilient and insect and disease resistant species.
Wood products harvested from the project would be sold to contribute to local economies.
Harvest and thinning operations would be complemented with prescribed burning to reduce fuel-loading, prepare areas for planting after regeneration harvest, and promote regeneration of healthy understory.
Another important feature of the project is that it would create fuel breaks along National Forest System Road 288 to protect infrastructure and access routes in the event of a future wildfire.
The project also includes road maintenance, reconstruction, construction, road storage and decommissioning of already closed roads.
No change in existing public motorized access within the project area is being considered.
Issuing of the Draft Decision Notice initiates a 45-day objection period.
Objections will be accepted only from those who have previously submitted specific written comments regarding the proposed project during scoping or other designated opportunity for public comment in
accordance with §218.5(a).
Written objections, including attachments, must be filed via mail, express delivery, or messenger
service to: Objection Reviewing Officer, USDA Forest Service, Northern Region, 26 Fort Missoula Road, Missoula, MT 59804; FAX to 406-329-3411; EMAIL to appeals-northern-regional-
office@fs.fed.us.
Please state “Cruzane Mountain” in the subject line when providing electronic objections, or on the envelope when replying by mail.
The opportunity to object ends 45 days following the date of publication of the legal notice in The Missoulian.
The publication date of the legal notice in the newspaper of record is the exclusive means for calculating the time to file an objection. Those wishing to object should not rely upon dates or timeframe information provided by another source.