Lone Pine restoration scheduled

Tree project aimed at stopping disease, bugs

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is proposing a major forest restoration project in Lone Pine State Park this winter.

A draft environmental assessment for the proposal was recently completed. Public comment on the document will be accepted through Dec. 5.

If the restoration is approved, thinning and tree removal would take place this winter on about 170 of the park's 229 acres.

The intent of the project is to stop the spread of dwarf mistletoe and eliminate or reduce a bark-beetle infestation that's killing the Douglas fir and western larch trees in the park. Dead and downed trees and "ladder fuels" also would be removed in some areas to reduce the potential danger of wildfires.

Surveys in 2000 and 2004 found that the percentage of standing dead Douglas fir and larch in the park had jumped from 7 percent to 20 percent, according to the environmental assessment, and 60 percent of the Douglas fir now show some level of disease or beetle infestation.

At that rate, the assessment said, half the trees in the park could be dead by 2010.

Park officials are proposing a variety of techniques to improve the forest health.

About two dozen small clearings would be created in areas with particularly severe beetle or mistletoe infestations. Stressed and diseases trees also would be removed on about 80 acres of parkland, with standing dead snags left to provide nesting habitat for birds.

Grassland areas in the park would be preserved by removing encroaching trees, and fuel mitigation efforts would take place on about 25 acres.

Another 45 to 50 acres would be left largely undisturbed.

The estimated cost of the project is $144,000. That would be offset by $113,000 in estimated revenue from the sale of any marketable logs.

Copies of the environmental assessment are available at the Fish, Wildlife and Parks regional headquarters at 490 N. Meridian Road in Kalispell. For more information, contact Dave Landstrom at 751-4574.

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In other news, the department recently approved a $1.3 million renovation and expansion of the Lone Pine interpretive center.

The project will improve the energy efficiency and accessibility of the 21-year-old building, allowing it to be open year-round. The entrance will be reconfigured to improve service and the classroom area will be expanded by about 1,000 square feet, or 25 percent.

The center's interpretive displays also will be significantly upgraded with high-quality graphics, and a 50-seat open-air amphitheater will be built near the volleyball area.

Construction is expected to begin in late 2006 or early 2007 and be finished that year.

Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com