Cruzane Mountain forest project gets approved

The Lolo National Forest has approved the Cruzane Mountain project, located on the Superior Ranger District in Mineral County, approximately 3 miles west of Haugen and northeast of Saltese.

The Cruzane Mountain project area falls mostly 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 will improve these conditions by removing dead and diseased vegetation and promoting wildfire-resilient and insect-resistant tree species.

“We are pleased to move forward with this important project to improve forest health and reduce the impacts of insects and disease in this area,” said Carole Johnson, Superior District Ranger. “This project is part of our continued commitment to improve forest conditions and reduce wildfire risk in areas nearby communities.”

The project will begin in the summer season of 2021 and will utilize a variety of management tools such as commercial regeneration harvests.

These harvests will leave standing large, legacy ponderosa pine, western larch and western white pine to promote a fire-resilient species composition to improve forest health conditions.

In addition, commercial thinning, pre-commercial thinning and improvement cuts will be used to reduce stand densities and shift forest species composition to wildfire-resilient and insect and disease-resistant species.

Fuel breaks will be cut along National Forest System Road 288 to protect infrastructure and provide access routes in the event of a future wildfire.

Wood products harvested from the project will be sold to contribute to local rural economies. Prescribed burning will also be used to reduce fuel-loading, prepare areas for planting after regeneration harvest, and promote the regeneration of healthy understory.

The project includes road maintenance, reconstruction, construction, storage, and decommissioning of already closed roads. No change in existing public motorized access is included in this decision.

For more information on this project please call the Superior Ranger Station at 406-822-4233 or visit the Lolo National Forest Projects page here.