Kootenai Forest Plan criticized from both sides

The final record of decision for the Kootenai National Forest is being roundly criticized by environmental groups and timber interests alike.

Timber interests claim the annual harvest target of 47.5 million board feet is too low and is based on budgetary constraints the Forest anticipates, not the actual amount of sustainable timber that’s available.

The Kootenai Forest encompasses more than 2.2 million acres and has a much greater timber base than the Flathead Forest, which includes large areas of wilderness and inventoried roadless land.

F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Co. land and resource manager Paul McKenzie participated in many of the meetings leading up to the plan. He said he was disappointed in the final outcome.

“We all recognize budgets are a constraint,” he said. “Why would you put that in your plan?”

McKenzie said budgets change over time, and the Forest Plan is designed to guide management over the course of decades, not just a few years.

Kootenai Forest planner Timory Peel said the allowable sale quantity in the plan is actually 80.2 million board feet, and the Forest could, if it has a better budget outlook, sell that much in a year. It cannot go over that figure, however, she said.

The plan was also criticized by the Lincoln County Commissioners.

“The plan is inadequate as it stands,” commissioner Greg Larson told the Western News. “It’s inadequate to meet the financial needs of Lincoln County. It’s inadequate to meet our workforce needs. And it’s inadequate to meet the timber management needs of the Forest to prevent catastrophic fire loss.”

The Kootenai Forest Plan recommends several wilderness areas in the Scotchman Peaks, Roderick and Cabinet Additions areas — 86,800 acres of recommended wilderness and 34,100 of wilderness study areas.

Another 246,800 acres in the Whitefish Range would be designated as backcountry non-motorized year-round. That area includes the Forest’s portion of the Whitefish Divide. The plan allows mountain biking in that area.

Most of the Kootenai Forest — 1.4 million acres — is categorized as general forest and allows motorized use on trails and roads and allows snowmobiling except where specific closures exist to protect wintering wildlife and other resources.

In addition, motorized use in the winter only would be allowed on about 86,500 acres. Motorized use year-round but on designated routes in the summer would be allowed on 169,800 acres.

Local environmental groups said they were disappointed in the plan’s Ten Lakes Wilderness Study Area decision. The Ten Lakes area is located east of Eureka and is a popular recreational area.

Some groups want the area to be designated a wilderness area, while others want to continue using the area for snowmobiling. The Forest Plan basically sets the Ten Lakes area in a land management limbo, deferring the decision to a 1985 legislative report to Congress, which recommended 26,000 acres for wilderness while the remaining acreage was available for a variety of uses. The Forest Plan still allows snowmobiling in the Ten Lakes area, but based on 1977 usage — when the area was first proposed as a wilderness study area.

“They’re punting the decision (on Ten Lakes) down the road,” Headwaters Montana executive director Dave Hadden said.

Hadden claims the Kootenai Forest is allowing far more snowmobilers than what should be able to use the area.