Here’s the first North Fork bear update of the spring from Tim Manley, Grizzly Bear Management Specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. It was posted to Facebook on Wednesday, May 5 . . .
Good morning. Just a quick update on bears.
Continue reading First bear update of the year from Tim Manley
Heads up! It is Forest Service special use permit time again. Some of you may recall the kerfuffle over this last year, particularly when it came to guided ATV tours. There are a few more requests this year. There is a May 12 deadline for responses.
View/download the official press release.
Details on the various projects and information on how to submit concerns can be found at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detailfull/flathead/passes-permits/event-commercial/?cid=fseprd903970&width=full
Here is an extract from a very useful note sent by Rob Davies, Hungry Horse/Glacier View District Ranger, that provides more focus on the projects affecting the North Fork . . .
Continue reading Forest Service posts Special Use permit details; deadline for comments is May 12
Spring 2021 prescribed burn activity in the North Fork is limited to areas close to Columbia Falls, Coram and Martin City, although the rest of the Flathead National Forest is seeing considerably more activity.
From the press release…
Kalispell, MT, March 18, 2021- The Flathead National Forest is planning to conduct spring prescribed fire projects, when weather, fuel conditions, and air quality become favorable. Smoke will be visible from various places in the Flathead Valley depending on the location of the burn units and weather conditions.
Each project follows a Prescribed Fire Burn Plan. The prescribed fire projects are located and designed to be controlled to reduce the potential for adverse effects, or to escape as a wildland fire. These projects will follow Montana air quality standards and coordinated with Montana State Department of Environmental Quality to reduce the impacts of smoke to our neighbors, cooperators, and surrounding communities. The project areas include:
Pile burning: On the attached map major locations of concentrated piles are identified. These may include both landing and hand piles. There are also scattered piles not identified on the map which may also be burned. Continue reading Flathead National Forest Spring Prescribed Fire Projects
From the official press release . . .
WEST GLACIER, Mont. [March 17, 2021] – Glacier National Park announces access to the east side of the park will reopened on March 18 at Two Medicine, Cut Bank and St. Mary for foot traffic, skis and snowshoes. Regular winter closures remain in place. Chief Mountain Road will remain closed at the park boundary until road conditions permit.
The entrance at St. Mary allows vehicle traffic on Going-to-the-Sun Road for 1.5 miles until the winter gate closure at St. Mary Campground. Access past the gate is allowed by foot, skiing and snowshoeing as is typical of normal winter seasons. The St. Mary Campground remains closed to winter camping until further notice.
The roads into Cut Bank, and Two Medicine remain closed to vehicle traffic for the winter, but access by foot, skiing and snowshoeing is available past the gates as is typical of normal winter seasons. Construction began on Many Glacier Road on March 15 and is closed to vehicular traffic and closed to hiker/biker traffic Monday through Friday through May 28.
Visitors are reminded that winter conditions are unpredictable and can quickly become dangerous. Visitors should prepare for icy conditions, high winds, and snow. Cellular communications in the park are extremely limited.
Access to the park east of the Continental Divide has been closed since March 2020 to protect the Blackfeet Indian Reservation population from COVID-19 due to high-risk members of the community. The decision to allow access to the east side was made after close consultation between health officials from the National Park Service, Indian Health Service, the Blackfeet Tribe, Glacier County and the state of Montana.
A note from Rob Davies, Hungry Horse-Glacier View District Ranger:
Attached is a letter describing the proposed expansion of Whale Gravel Pit. The material from the pit will be used primarily for the North Fork FLAP project… We are accepting public comments now through April 1st.
PDF attachment: Whale Pit Scoping Letter final 03152021
The 2021 winter North Fork Interlocal Agreement meeting will be held Thursday, March 4 at 9:00 a.m. The meeting usually lasts abut three hours. Due to the the ongoing pandemic, it will be a virtual meeting using the Zoom conferencing software.
The Interlocal Agreement provides for face-to-face contact (usually!) with representatives of agencies whose policies and actions affect the North Fork. Interlocal Agreement meetings are held in the winter (in town) and summer (at Sondreson Hall). Agency attendees include Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Montana Department of State Lands, U.S. Border Patrol, Glacier National Park, Flathead National Forest, U.S. Fish &Wildlife Service and Flathead County.
This is always a very interesting meeting, with reports from a range of government agencies and local organizations and often some quite vigorous discussion.
As some of you may recall from last summer’s Interlocal, Flathead County discovered, after 100+ years, that the North Fork Road has no official easement through a section of state land near the border. This means they have to buy access from Montana DNRC. *And* that means DNRC has to scope out the sale, including a public comment period. (They were going to ride the Forest Service’s coattails on this as part of the overall North Fork Road FLAP grant work, but USFS was moving too slowly.)
Anyway… Below are the materials DNRC sent out Friday, January 4. If you have any questions or comments on this proposed easement, please contact Dave Ring at dring@mt.gov or by calling 406-881-2663. Comments must be received no later than December 18, 2020 to be considered.
Cover Letter
Map of Requested Easement
General Area Map
Also, the Daily Inter Lake posted a good article on this issue: “Land Board to consider easement for North Fork Road project“
Since there was a considerable kerfuffle last spring over outfitting and guiding permits in the North Fork, I thought I’d pass along the press release I received this morning concerning permits for winter activities. As near as I can tell, the only thing planned for our part of the North Fork is a series of guided snowshoe trips up the back side of Glacier View peak (Glacier View Mountain Trails #381 & 381.1). This probably won’t happen because most of #381.1 has been closed since the Robert Fire – someone didn’t do their homework.
Anyway, the deadline for comments is November 6. The press release has links to more detailed information.
Flathead National Forest seeks input on winter recreation events and guiding services
Kalispell, MT October 16, 2020 – The Flathead National Forest is accepting public comment on winter 2020/21 recreation events and temporary outfitting and guiding activities across the forest. The activities would take place between December 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021.
The events and activities include things like a cross-country ski event, avalanche training, snowmobile and snow bike tours, and guided skiing, among others.
The Forest Service authorizes these types of activities to expand recreation access to the public and provide tourism jobs for the local economy.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have four seasons of outstanding outdoor offerings,” said Flathead National Forest Supervisor Kurt Steele. “Whether you head out with your friends and family or take advantage of a more structured opportunity offered by a guide or planned event, there is something here for everyone.”
The Forest Service issues permits for these activities based on a “user day” which means that one person on a guided trip would be counted as one user day. Ten people on a one-day trip would be counted as ten user days for example.
Based upon preliminary analysis, the Flathead National Forest anticipates these projects fall within the Forest Service category of actions under 36 CFR 220.8 that may be excluded in either an environmental assessment (EA) or an environmental impact statement (EIS) and that no extraordinary circumstances exist which would preclude use of this category. Scoping comments along with additional review will determine whether these projects can be categorically excluded. These projects are specifically consistent with category 36 CFR 220.6(d)(8): Approval, modification, or continuation of minor, short-term (1 year or less) special uses of National Forest System lands.
Additional information and maps for all the projects can be found on the Flathead National Forest website. The Forest will update the website with additional information about the status of each permit as it is reviewed by specialists and any permits are issued. The public should submit comments by November 6, 2020 to comments-northern-flathead@usda.gov.
From the official press release . . .
October 15, 2020 Kalispell, MT–Flathead National Forest announced today that the Frozen Moose forest and fuels management project has moved to the next phase of its planning process with the release of the draft decision notice.
The draft decision proposes 8,077 acres of vegetation treatments to reduce forest fuels, improve forest health conditions, and provide forest products for the local economy. The whole project area evaluated is approximately 151,000 acres, of which 3,180 acres are proposed for commercial timber harvest, 4,897 acres are proposed for noncommercial vegetation treatments, and 89 percent of proposed treatments are within the wildland-urban interface.
The project would also improve aquatic habitat by replacing and removing culverts and restoring approximately three miles of old road to forest condition. It would add 13 miles of historical road back to the forest’s road system. Those roads would be made impassable after project completion. The project would also construct 6.4 miles of temporary road to be used for project activities and then restored back to forest condition. Public motorized access would not change in the area.
The project area includes the North Fork community north of Polebridge, MT, which has seen significant wildfire activity and community evacuations over the last thirty years.
The forest has received numerous formal and informal comments about the project since the project team first asked for public input in the winter of 2019/20. The public scoping period for the environmental assessment this summer received 17 comments. Other feedback was gathered during a virtual public meeting, Forest Service attendance at other community meetings, and site visits with adjacent landowners.
The commenters were supportive of the forest fuels management work, concerned about potential impacts to grizzly bears and bull trout, and wanting to see either more or less timber harvest than was proposed.
This week, the project enters an objection period, which is required by U.S. Forest Service regulation. The 45-day administrative review period allows people who have previously submitted timely, specific written comments during any designated opportunity for public comment to file an objection to the draft decision.
More information about the project can be found on the forest’s website.
The North Fork Land Use Advisory Committee has withdrawn the zoning appeal originally scheduled to be heard at the Flathead County Board of Adjustments on October 6. All of you who were planning to attend this meeting no longer need to do so.