County resource plan critical of Forest Service, Glacier Park policies

Hungry Horse News

More road access. More logging. Less grizzly bear protection. And don't let the government have any more private land.

That's the gist of a new natural resource policy drafted by a county committee primarily consisting of multiple-use and property rights proponents. The committee recently gave the draft to Flathead County commissioners for review.

The proposal calls for increased timber harvest and motorized access to public lands and opposes a "let it burn" wildfire policy in Glacier National Park and much of the Flathead National Forest.

Glacier actually does not have a "let it burn" policy, but it does allow some wildfires to burn, depending on several factors.

The county's overall policy on natural resources should be based on the principle of protecting private property rights and the traditional economy, the draft document states, and the county should encourage no net loss of private property to government.

The 98-page draft policy document claims that the county's historical or traditional economy has been diminished by state and federal agencies that control natural resource policies on 74 percent of the county's 3.36 million acres.

"The economy of the county was in the past, and is today, dependent upon the availability and utilization of natural resources of the county," the document claims. "Directly or indirectly and traditionally in the past, the majority of the people employed in Flathead County are dependent upon forestry, forest production, ranching and farming, recreation, mining and other activities related to the availability of natural resources."

The timber base is of particular interest to the committee, which claims timber harvest in the Flathead National Forest has dropped from about 120 million board feet per year in the early 1990s to about 4 million board feet today.

The committee also claims that annual timber growth in the Forest is about 60 million board feet, with another 53 million board feet lost each year to mortality. If the Forest allowed an amount equal to growth and mortality to be harvested, a total of 215 sawmill workers and 1,500 associated workers could be employed in the county, creating $7.1 million in direct and $37.5 million in indirect income, the committee claims.

"Current inventories on the suitable timber base exceed the total volume removed," the document states. "Healthy forest ecosystems require that the growth and mortality be managed."

Forest management should be based on "sound science, economical decisions and common sense" and "must include planting, thinning and harvesting of the forest vegetation" to prevent a build-up of fire fuels in the county's forests, the committee claims.

Forests are no longer healthy and contain abundant fire fuels because of actions by environmentalists and agencies that supported environmentalists, the committee claims.

"Beginning in the early 1990s, forest management by harvesting, regeneration and thinning of timber stands was significantly reduced on National Forest lands in Flathead County," the document states. "This was due to laws, regulations and litigation."

Enforcement of the Endangered Species Act is one example cited by the committee, which calls for protection of listed species by "cooperation" between private landowners and government rather than land-use restrictions and penalties.

"The establishment of the Northern Continental Divide Grizzly Bear Recovery Program resulted in a substantial reduction in forest road access," the document states. "These restrictions have affected management ability to deal with fire-fuel loading and has also affected the custom, culture, social and economic situation in Flathead County."

Grizzly bears are not the only impediment to sound natural resource management, according to the committee. Other issues include:

* Road access. The county should "maintain the historic right to travel over federal and state lands where ever necessary in pursuit of farming, ranching, timber harvest, mining, recreational activities, motorized vehicle use, historic uses, human safety and emergency," the document states.

The committee defines rights-of-way on public lands to include horse paths, cattle trails, irrigation canals, ditches, pipelines, wagon roads, homestead roads, mine-to-market roads and others. On roadless lands, the county should maintain an "array of recreational activities" including "motorized access."

* Fire management. Besides encouraging the Flathead Forest to harvest an amount equal to the growth and mortality rate, the committee calls for a more aggressive firefighting policy.

The county should discourage a "let it burn" policy in Glacier National Park and on Flathead Forest lands outside of the wilderness, the committee states. The county should also "encourage a return to a previous policy of control of wildfires by 10 a.m. the day following discovery" and the return of nighttime fire crews.

* Water resources. Water rights should be treated as private property rights, the document states, and water quality issues should be "coordinated through local government" so they are "consistent with the protection of private property rights." Use of upstream water storage structures - such as dams and reservoirs - should also be encouraged, the committee states.

With wetlands, the county should "work with water, wildlife, agencies, agriculture and landowners to achieve acceptable solutions and mutual benefits, both economic and otherwise," the document states.

The committee calls for a "consistent definition" of riparian areas needing protection from development. Such areas should have "visible vegetation or physical characteristics relative of permanent water influence," and "such sites as ephemeral streams or washes" should be excluded, the document states.

* Mining. The county should encourage appropriate exploration and development of minerals and "encourage elimination of unreasonable or unfounded barriers, prohibitions and impediments to mineral and energy resource and development."

The committee also warned the county to "carefully evaluate proposed revisions of the General Mining Law of 1872 for undue adverse impact on the mining industry in the county."

The federal mining law has been criticized by environmentalists who claim it does not adequately protect public lands from the impacts of mining.

County planning director Forrest Sanderson said the county needs a natural resource policy in place in order to participate in discussions with government agencies on use and management of public lands.

The Flathead County Planning Board voted 6-1 in favor of the proposed policy following a two-hour public hearing Dec. 15 in which numerous speakers spoke out against the document.

Four of the seven members of the year-old Flathead County Natural Resources Committee are current or former members of Montanans for Multiple Use - Clarence Taber, Fred Hodgeboom, Clarice Ryan and Chuck Samuelson - and one member, Ron Buentemeier, is the general manager of F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co.

Other members include Commissioner Gary Hall and county planning board member Kathy Robertson. All the terms expire at the end of this year. None of the committee members represent local environmental groups.