Forest Service seeks public comment on A-BLT Project
Clark Fork Valley Press
The U.S. Forest Service is inviting comments on the Environmental Assessment for the A-BLT (Antimony, Buster Brown, Lucky Boy, Therriault) project located about 10 miles west of Thompson Falls within Sanders County on the Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District on the Lolo National Forest.
The goals of this project are to improve the current conditions within the project area by increasing forest resilience to insects and disease, reducing the potential for high-severity wildfire, and improving habitat for big game and fish.
The project area is dense with trees and fuels, creating conditions that are prime for wildfire, disease and insect infestation.
The dense tree canopy cover is also limiting growth of forage within many big game winter range areas and the area is lacking in stream connectivity to promote suitable fish passage and habitat.
The project would improve these conditions through various vegetation management treatments including prescribed burning and timber harvest, which would provide forest products to local economies.
The project would also improve native fish habitat by replacing culverts and restoring the lower segment of the stream in Cox Gulch.
The original proposed action was modified in response to public feedback and further field investigation and was addressed in the Environmental Assessment.
As a result, approximately 240 acres of timber harvest were dropped west of Cox Gulch.
Additional field reviews conducted by insect and disease experts did not find continuing Douglas-fir beetle tree mortality at the scale that was previously projected in the Cox Gulch area.
Due to the updated insect and disease projections and the challenging economic feasibility of harvesting these stands, these harvest units were dropped from the A-BLT project.
The original proposed action included approximately 1,554 acres of commercial timber harvest and 1,234 acres of non-commercial treatments (thinning and planting), for a total of 2,788 acres of treatments.
The modified proposed action would conduct 1,311 acres of timber harvest and 1,306 acres of non-commercial vegetation treatments for a total of 2,617 acres of total treatments.
How to Comment:
The A-BLT Environmental Assessment is posted on the Lolo National Forest website: www.fs.usda.gov/projects/lolo/landmanagement/projects.
Your comments specific to the project and the analysis are valuable. Please mail your comments by Nov. 23, 2020 to:
A-BLT Project Leader
Plains/Thompson Fall Ranger District
P.O. Box 429
Plains, Montana 59859
Comments may also be submitted electronically to: comments-northern-lolo-plains-thompsonfalls@usda.gov . Please put the name of the project in the subject line and please include your name and mailing address.
For more information about this project, contact Pat Partyka, Team Leader, at (406) 826-4314 or patricia.partyka@usda.gov .