Flathead Forest Plan to be unveiled

Hungry Horse News

Within the next couple of weeks, the Flathead National Forest should begin unveiling its new forest plan.

Drafts of the plan should start going out by the middle of the month, complete with a map that will define areas of the forest, such as proposed wilderness, timber base, multiple-use areas and wild-and-scenic river corridors.

Public meetings will start in June, said forest spokeswoman Denise Germann.

The new plan embraces rule changes made by the Bush administration which eliminate the environmental impact statement process from creating a forest plan.

Under an impact statement process, the forest would have come up with a several different alternatives and then gauge public comments on those alternatives.

Under the new process, there is still significant public input, but there aren't a host of alternatives.

Under new rules, a plan is only seen as a guideline, an umbrella, if you will, which the Bush administration maintains are exempt from some federal environmental laws.

Under the new rules, site-specific projects, such as a timber sale, would require an actual environmental impact statement.

A date for release of the plan hasn't been announced, Germann said, though the general timeline, according to Forest Service documents, is to release the plan and gauge public comment in the next couple of months, update the draft in the fall and finalize it by next spring.

The new way of doing the plan has received a decidedly mixed review.

Environmental groups are worried it will give Forest Service personnel too much power to do as they please with public lands.

Multiple-use groups are also cautious about the plan, claiming the pendulum could swing the other way, allowing the Forest Service to shut out multiple use on some Forest Service lands that traditionally have enjoyed it.