Trail Creek salvage project approved
<p><strong>A hardy grass</strong> sent new shoots up from the forest floor about two weeks after the 22,200-acre Trail Creek Fire burned through the area near Spotted Bear River Road. (Samuel Wilson/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
Spanning a portion of the 22,195-acre burn area from a 2015 wildfire in the Spotted Bear District, the Trail Creek Fire Salvage Project has received the final go-ahead from the Flathead National Forest.
Located about two miles east of the Spotted Bear Ranger Station, the project is expected to produce about 4.3 million board-feet of timber, roughly 15 percent of the forest’s annual yield.
The federal agency ultimately chose a less-intensive alternative framework for the project than had been initially proposed, scaling back a 1,351-acre logging footprint to 834 acres in the final decision. According to the decision notice from the forest, the alternative was designed to address the potential displacement of grizzly bears by motorized access, along with increased sediment pollution from a proposed temporary road.
New road construction on existing road templates will total 3.3 miles, along with 1.6 miles of temporary road construction and 32.8 miles of temporary access to existing roads.
The project also calls for restoration work on the portion of the Spotted Bear Ranger District torched by the fire. It calls for planting 3,000 acres with conifer trees and 500 acres with a combination of trees and shrubs.
The project will also remove a barrier to fish passage on South Creek and provide for visitor safety by removing 30 to 50 hazard trees along two miles of seasonal roads and about 16 miles of system trails.
For additional information on the project and the decision, visit www.fs.usda.gov/goto/flathead/projects, or contact Matt Shaffer at 406-758-5204 or Deb Mucklow, at 406-758-5376.