Comment sought on proposal

The Daily Inter Lake

The Hungry Horse Ranger District is seeking public input on continued fuel-reduction work in the corridor between Hungry Horse and West Glacier.

The district is hosting an open house from 3 to 7 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Hungry Horse Ranger Station.

District planner Michelle Draggoo explained that at this point, there is no draft plan for a project and there is only a rough map of potential areas for fuel-reduction work. The district is seeking suggestions from the public on where and how work should occur.

The project would expand on an initial Hungry Horse-West Glacier fuels-reduction project that was carried out several years ago between the two towns. That project involved work on about 240 acres, nearly all of it concentrated on national forest lands directly adjacent to private property and structures.

"That was really one of the first fuel-reduction projects the Flathead had undertaken," Draggoo said. "Now what we're doing with this project, which is in the same area, is expanding on the areas we were working on … We're asking the public, what do you think about more treatments in this area?"

Draggoo said the district is hoping to have a project designed and approved by summer. The project could be developed under a special "categorical exclusion" that exempts it from a traditional, time-consuming environmental review. But the Forest Service limits categorical exclusions for fuel reduction to projects of 1,000 acres or less.

If the district designs a larger project, based on public input, it likely would involve planning and development that would not be finished by summer.

The district is encouraging comments on the project to be submitted by Feb. 19. Call Draggoo at 387-3800.