County setting up task force on forest

Consensus may be hard to come by when it comes to national forest management issues, so the Flathead County commissioners are going to try something different.

The commissioners are forming a task force that will focus on two major issues related to Flathead National Forest: an ongoing revision of the forest's long-term management plan, and management policies for roadless areas on the forest.

Commissioner Gary Hall said he wants the 12-person task force to be made up of people who will represent diverse interests, including conservation groups, the timber industry, main street business, recreationists and others.

The task force will develop recommendations to the commissioners, who will in turn develop their own recommendations for roadless areas and forest plan revision.

But Hall said that from the start, the task force won't be expected to reach consensus, or 100 percent agreement, on its recommendations.

"My proposal with this panel is that we will discuss the options and we will come up with statements addressing different sides of the issue, and we'll take a vote on each of the recommendations," Hall said.

Even though a majority of the task force will choose recommendations, the panel's minority opinion will be noted in the recommendations.

"It's just hard to get consensus on these things when you get a bunch of people together," Hall said.

Hall cited an example from Lincoln County, where some people left a group that had met several times to discuss the roadless issue, leaving behind mostly like-minded people.

The same thing has happened with groups that met in Bigfork and Whitefish to discuss forest plan revision, said Denise Germann, public affairs officer with the Flathead National Forest.

The Forest Service is encouraging people to reach agreements on sticky issues, but that rarely happens in highly polarized forest management debates.

Hall cited his experience on a recent Forest Service field trip to Hungry Horse Reservoir, where participants were asked for their opinions on a sliver of forest in the Spotted Bear area that is listed as "recommended wilderness" in a draft proposal for the forest plan.

Hall said there was little agreement on that recommendation, even though it applied to a small and remote area directly adjacent to existing wilderness.

Hall said task force meetings will be led by state Sens. Dan Weinberg, D-Whitefish, and Greg Barkus, R-Kalispell.

Recommendations on the roadless issue are being developed at the request of Gov. Brian Schweitzer, who is working with other county commissions to develop a statewide petition with suggestions for managing federal roadless lands in Montana.

That effort was prompted by a policy from the Bush administration calling on state governments to provide customized comments on roadless areas.

The Bush administration's plan has been promoted as an improved, decentralized approach to roadless policies, compared to a roadless rule developed by the Clinton administration.

But it has been criticized by some governors, including Schweitzer, who say the federal government is passing off its planning duties to the states without providing resources to do the job. Schweitzer also has complained that states can go to considerable effort in developing roadless recommendations, but the Forest Service has no obligation to adopt any of the recommendations.

Forest plan revision also is being carried out under new rules that emphasize strategic goals and "desirable conditions" on forests. The revised plans are expected to be easily amended to account for new scientific information or changes on the landscape.

Current plans on many national forests, including one adopted in 1986 on the Flathead Forest, were replete with standards, objectives and requirements that had tactical impacts on nearly every forest management project.

Hall said that the county's task force will hold regular meetings that will be open to the public, with opportunities for public comment. He anticipates the task force will forward its recommendations on both the roadless issue and forest plan revision sometime next spring.

Applicants for the task force must live in Flathead County and should send letters of interest to the commissioners that include their names, addresses, a daytime telephone number and qualifications.

Those interested should send their letters by 5 p.m. Oct. 28 to: Flathead County Commissioners, 800 S. Main, Kalispell, MT 59901.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com