Monitoring effort planned for post-fire project

The Flathead National Forest will hold a meeting Monday to organize a public monitoring effort in areas burned by the Robert and Wedge Canyon fires in 2003.

Forest officials are urging the involvement of people who participated in a collaborative process that was used to develop plans for managing the burned areas. That process was required by special legislation from Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.

The Flathead and Kootenai National Forest Rehabilitation Act of 2003 also required the creation of a diverse group to monitor the effectiveness of projects and management strategies.

"Multiparty monitoring is a valuable tool in federal land management and we hope that a diverse group of community members will get involved," said Rob Carlin, the Flathead Forest's lead planner.

The forest adopted the Robert-Wedge post-fire management plan last December, allowing for timber salvage on about 3,000 acres of burned forest.

That harvest, currently under way, is expected to yield roughly 23 million board feet of timber.

The post-fire project also involves tree planting, road closures and removals, and other forest rehabilitation work.

Those interested in participating in the post-fire monitoring effort are asked to contact Denise Germann, the forest's public affairs officer, at 758-5252.

The Flathead Forestry Project, a local collaborative group, is leading the organizational meeting Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the Montana Logging Association building on Montana 35, just east of the Flathead River.