Spurred by collaboration, a flurry of restoration projects is underway this year on the Flathead National Forest in the Swan Valley, with more on the way.

Contractors and Forest Service crews are removing old bridge abutments, treating weeds, re-piling old slash piles in preparation for burning, restoring wetlands, repairing trails, assessing fire history in the Mission Mountains Wilderness, and preventing aquatic invasive species.

Additionally, the Flathead National Forest will soon open bids to replace the bridge over the Swan River at Piper Creek Road, which is at the end of its useable life.

The Swan Lake Ranger District is one of three Forest Service districts within the 1.5 million acre Southwestern Crown of the Continent landscape that also includes the Seeley Lake Ranger District of the Lolo National Forest and the Lincoln District of the Helena National Forest. Funding for the restoration projects has come through the federal Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP).

The Southwest Crown Collaborative—an eclectic group of citizens, nonprofits, and industry representatives—worked with the U.S. Forest Service in 2010 to develop a restoration proposal for the Swan, Clearwater and Blackfoot watersheds. The proposal was selected for 10 years of funding in a national forest competition. The CFLRP allocation for the first two years is about $4.5 million. The funding enables the three national forests to increase their restoration budgets.

In the Swan Valley, a 15-acre wetland restoration project north of Condon Loop Road engaged Columbia Falls contractor Mark Evert in late August. A monoculture of nonnative reed canary grass, of little value to wildlife, had taken over the former wetland, which was drained in the early 1900s to create a hayfield. Forest Service hydrologist Liz Rohde said re-flooding the wetland will recharge the groundwater and restore native vegetation beneficial to wildlife.

Evert also removed two bridge abutments that were no longer supporting bridges. The abutments on Cold and Kraft creeks were constraining the streams, which eventually would have caused the fill behind the abutments to wash out, adding sediment to the streams. Cold Creek is a native bull trout stream, while Kraft Creek provides habitat for native cutthroat trout. “I’ve been waiting for years to find the funding for these projects,” Rohde said. “The CFLRP dollars have made it possible.”

In 2011, two contractors, Brad Sturdevant, Philipsburg, and Bill Somers, Columbia Falls, treated noxious weeds on most of the open roads and many of the most heavily used gated roads included in a Forest Service weed management plan. Pre-treatment monitoring plots were established at six sites to measure the effectiveness of the herbicide treatments in the future.

To enable further weed spraying, in summer 2011 a botany crew conducted an extensive sensitive-plants survey on former Plum Creek Timber Co. lands in the Swan Valley. These lands were recently included in the Flathead National Forest as part of the Montana Legacy Project. In 2012, Luke Wright, Roberts, Mont., will spray difficult-to-reach weed infested areas by horseback, while Bill Somers will spay easily accessible roads from his pickup and ATV.

Aquatic invasive species are another focus of CFLRP funding, supporting boat inspections at Holland and Lindbergh lakes by Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks employee Ky Zimmerman. He watches out for zebra mussels and other invasive species, and he educates people on how to prevent more invasions.

Kalispell contractor Steve Barrett recently returned from Graywolf Lake in the Mission Mountains where he was investigating fire-scarred white-bark pine for a fire regimes analysis that will compare fire history with current fire conditions.

Barrett’s 2011-12 site-specific survey of high elevation sites will provide “ground-truthing” to enhance satellite mapping. John Ingebretson, Swan Lake Ranger District assistant fire management officer, said: “The site-by-site data is essential for accurate development of a federally required Mission Mountains Wilderness fire management plan.”

On the popular Holland-Gordon Trail, which provides access into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, Forest Service crews are restoring trail tread, repairing retaining walls and installing water bars, utilizing CFLRP funding. Crews are also reconstructing the three trails leading to Crystal Lake in the Mission Mountains Wilderness. Next year they will repair the tread on all nine miles of the Lion Creek Trail in the Swan Range. Matching dollars for this project come from the Missoula County Resource Advisory Council (RAC).

To qualify for CFLRP dollars, the Forest Service must match the funding with an equal amount of project work expenditures. As an example, Swan Valley Contractors Alan and Nathan Richardson, EuchreMountain Logging, have begun work on the Lion’s Paw mountain pine beetle stewardship sale near the Lion Creek trailhead. Stately ponderosa pine in the Lion’s Paw area are at risk of succumbing to the pine beetle. Thinning to open the stands may help these mature trees resist the beetles. The value from this project will meet some of the matching funds requirements.

Lion’s Paw is one of several forest health and fuels reduction projects planned for the SW Crown region. District Ranger Rich Kehr said: “CFLRP funding with collaborative restoration is a valuable tool enabling the Forest Service to manage the landscape in compliance with forest plan direction.”

Similar restoration projects are underway on the Seeley Lake and Lincoln Districts, providing opportunities for contractors that would not be available without the additional funding. For more information and to learn how to be involved, go to www.swcrown.com–and watch for upcoming stories from the Clearwater and Blackfoot watersheds.

The Southwestern Crown Collaborative announced $3.5 million will be distributed to three National Forests in Montana as part of the “Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program,” which provides a decade-long investment to collaborative forest restoration efforts across the country.

According to supporters of the program in Montana, another year of funding will allow forest restoration work to advance in portions of the Lolo, Helena, and Flathead National Forests.  When combined with match dollars, supporters say funds are putting more Montanans to work in the woods, restoring degraded water channels, and helping protect private property from wildfire.

“In a time when forest contractors and mill workers are struggling to make ends meet, this program expands work opportunities and allows workers to plan for the future,” said Gordy Sanders, Resource Manager at Pyramid Mountain Lumber in Seeley Lake.

Funding for the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program is allocated on a year-by-year basis by Congress as part of the federal budget process.  The second year of funding survived any severe budget cuts and the program has received support by local elected officials in Missoula County and in Congress by Sen. Max Baucus, Sen. Jon Tester, and Rep. Denny Rehberg.

“The Southwestern Crown Collaborative is to be commended for working proactively to create jobs and conserve and restore the natural resources that make the area so special,” said Jean Curtiss, Chair of the Missoula County Commissioners.  “We hope Congress can continue to back this home-grown initiative and support an investment which will have local and nation-wide benefits well into the future.”

Last August, the Southwestern Crown Collaborative was one of ten groups nation-wide to receive initial funding to break ground on the new program. The first year’s funding will be used this summer, in combination with matching funds, to employ local contractors and improve 138 miles of roads and trail, combat noxious weeds on 15,000 acres, reduce hazardous fuels on 1,630 acres within the wildland-urban interface (WUI),  and restore 3,150 acres of forests outside the WUI.

According to Jim Paris of the Lincoln-based, Ponderosa Snow Warriors, the program has augmented their capacity to control invasive species. “This program has enabled us to expand our efforts to combat noxious weeds in partnership with the Lincoln Ranger District, and we look forward to keeping this work going in the future,” he said.

The Collaborative says the second year of funding will bolster that work in months to come.   Specifically, they predict the new funds will be used to treat roughly an additional 10,000 acres of weeds, improve 7,000 acres of wildlife habitat, restore 30 miles of streams, upgrade 15 stream crossing structures, improve 350 miles of road and trails, reduce fuel loads on 4,500 high-risk acres within the wildland-urban interface, and restore 3,900 acres of forests outside the WUI.

“This will help us deliver on our promise we made one year ago,” said Gary Burnett, Executive Director of the Blackfoot Challenge and member of the Collaborative. “This is a good sign of things to come over the next decade.”

The group’s new website, www.swcrown.org, will allow the public to track the status and location of upcoming restoration projects in Montana funded through the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program and match dollars.   A new interactive map allows the public to see how separate Forests Service districts are working in coordination across a very large landscape.

According to Debbie Austin, co-chair of the Collaborative and Supervisor of the Lolo National Forest, “The hard work of the Southwestern Crown Collaborative is allowing the Forest Service to expand implementation of this important large landscape restoration project.”

In addition to creating immediate jobs, members of the Collaborative say the program is also a long-term forest investment, eventually reducing ongoing forest maintenance costs to taxpayers in the future.

“Restoring deteriorating forest roads that leach sediments into our water supplies and reducing the risk of expensive wildfires are proactive investments that end up saving money in the long-term,” said Scott Brennan, co-chair of the Collaborative and Deputy Director of The Wilderness Society in Montana.

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New employment opportunities in the woods were the focus of a recent contractor’s workshop organized by the U.S. Forest Service, the Montana Logging Association and several conservation and community development groups.

The two-day workshop in Seeley Lake alerted local contractors to employment opportunities in the region as well as provided tips and information to help them navigate the contracting process.

“The different types of contracts and the many application forms can be downright confusing,” said Jason Todhunter, Safety Management Consultant for the Montana Logging Association, whose group is helping to sponsor the workshop.  “We want to ensure contractors know how to put their best foot forward when applying for upcoming projects.”   All participants received 16 Accredited Logging Professional credits for the 2-day conference.

The workshop came at a good time.  Employment opportunities are on the horizon thanks to a new forest restoration program in the Southwestern Crown of the Continent which encompasses portions of the Lolo, Helena, and Flathead National Forests.

The Southwestern Crown Collaborative (SWCC) is helping guide and plan the scope of this work over the next decade and predicts a number of projects will be available for bid in the coming months.

“These projects would be tackling noxious weeds, improving degraded trails and roads, and helping reduce fuel loads in the forests,” said Tim Love, Seeley Lake District Ranger who will oversee some of the work on his district.

A representative of the SWCC was at the workshop and explained how the group is bringing private and public investments into the region to fund forest restoration work. The collaborative is composed of economic development firms, conservation groups, federal and state land agencies, timber groups, land trusts, and the University of Montana.

Forest workers interested in Southwest Crown of the Continent job opportunities can attend a two-day workshop on new procedures this Tuesday and Wednesday.

“There’s a lot of the stewardship work available,” Montana Logging Association safety management consultant Jason Todhunter said. “This will be helpful for anybody interested in doing that. Stewardship is a new world for a lot of folks.”

The Southwest Crown of the Continent project is one of 10 demonstration projects approved by the U.S. Forest Service in a nationwide competition last year. The projects mix traditional timber sales (where marketable trees are sold to loggers) with stewardship contracts that barter saw logs for work projects, such as repairing roads, fixing culverts or clearing hazardous fuels from around homes or communities.

And some jobs will be handled on acquisition contracts, which involve straightforward restoration work like weed spraying, stream restoration and other habitat improvement. While some work will be directly with the Forest Service, other tasks might be shared by nonprofit groups or local lumber mills. In addition to timber workers, people with experience in excavation, habitat restoration, road construction and weed management are invited to attend.

The area stretches from Clearwater Junction in the Lolo National Forest up to Condon in the Flathead National Forest and east to Rogers Pass in the Helena National Forest. It also includes private lands in the region where landowners want to participate. Although now funded on a year-to-year basis, the project is intended to cover at least 10 years of work under the federal Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Act.

Erin Zwiener of the Blackfoot Challenge said lunches would be provided for attendees of the two-day workshop. Participants are asked to reserve a spot by calling (406) 793-3900 or (406) 207-2799. The workshop is free.

Read the original story in the Missoulian.

That’s what happened in 2006, when Pyramid Mountain Lumber received a ‘stewardship contract’ for restoration work on the local Seeley Lake Ranger District.   At the time, stewardship contracts were still a new approach to restoring public-forest land by fostering greater participation between local communities and federal agencies. They were designed by Congress to meet local and rural community needs and to encourage agency transparency and meaningful collaborative partnerships.

The Clearwater Stewardship Gordy was part of has since been touted as a national example of linking ecological forest needs with rural development.  It was a departure from traditional forest contracts because it successfully linked forest health to local community needs,  the bidding was done on a “best value” scale as opposed to cheapest bid price, and the proceeds from the sale of forest resources returned to fund additional restoration efforts within the area where the project occurred.

When it was all said and done, analysis has shown the project had created roughly 148 full and part time jobs.  That’s why Gordy now sees promise in the new pioneering forest restoration effort that seeks to unite the goals of forest health and local livelihoods across 1.5 million acres of his backyard – the Southwestern Crown of the Continent.

While the primary focus of the project is to restore forests and make them more resilient over the long-term, much of the proposed workload will create a greater supply of stewardship contracts in the coming years  – and that’s good news for business.  If all goes according to plan, the collaborative plans to create 179 full and part-time jobs during each of the next 10 years, and contribute $9.1 million annually in direct labor income.

According to Gordy, “this project offers the opportunity to realize the potential of stewardship and restoration at the landscape level while providing multiple goods and services to benefit rural communities.”

Oct 5 2010

SEELEY LAKE, Mont. — A large-scale project to restore forest lands in Montana has been awarded one million dollars for at least one year to target major threats like noxious weeds.

Noxious weeds come in a variety of shapes and colors. The most common look like pretty flowers similar to what you might find in your garden. But as natural resource specialist Shannon Connolly says, “They can decrease wildlife and livestock forage, which decreases their food availability. They can be poisonous.”Connolly says noxious weeds along the roads are a major concern. “They can get picked up in vehicles, with people biking, or walking. So vectors like roads or trail sides or rivers are ways noxious weeds can spread really fast and far.”

Herbicides are one way to control noxious weeds. Brad Sturdevant makes his living spraying weeds. He says fall is the best time to apply treatment. “After the hot summer and the dry parts of the summer, they can have a fall regrowth with the moisture and they’re more susceptible to herbicide,” says Sturdevant.In the state of Montana there are 33 different types of noxious weeds. ”

Pay attention to change around your area, plant species that you have never seen before,” says Connolly.The new funding will allow the Southwest Collaborative, which is made up of conservation groups, timber companies and rural communities, to address noxious weeds along with other forest concerns in the region and get people back to work.

They’re hoping to get close to $90 million for the 10-year restoration program, that will start in the spring.

Read original story here.

HELENA – Forest restoration projects in Montana and Idaho are among 10 nationwide that have been chosen to share $10 million under a new federal program meant to unite groups such as loggers and conservationists that may have once had competing interests.

The restoration projects span from Florida to Washington state and were approved by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell on Thursday, according to organizers of the Montana project. An advisory panel recommended 10 projects out of 31 competing for funding through the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program signed into law last year.

In the Northern Rocky Mountains, Montana’s 1.5-million-acre Southwestern Crown of the Continent project will receive just over $1 million and Idaho’s 1.4-million-acre Clearwater Basin project also will get $1 million. Both were nominated because they were considered high-priority areas to restore ecological health, according to the Forest Service.

Read original story here.

The project will focus on the region encompassing the Blackfoot, Clearwater and Swan River Valleys and was chosen from 31 other proposals across the country competing for funds made available by a new federal program, the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP).

Only ten such projects were selected for funding nationwide and everyone from local county officials to regional FS managers are excited Montana is included.

“We are thrilled that the selection committee saw the importance of this project,” said Missoula County Commissioner Bill Carey.  “It was stitched together by neighbors and new allies who saw a clear need to bolster rural economies and make our forests healthier in the long-term.  Now their vision is becoming a reality and the citizens and forests of Western Montana will benefit for decades to come.”

“Congratulations to the Southwestern Crown Collaborative members for successfully competing their project,” said Leslie A.C. Weldon, Regional Forester for the Forest Service’s Northern Region.  “Montana’s national forests will benefit from their approach to ecological restoration that is both community-driven and science-based.”

According to the selection letter from Secretary Vilsack, the Forest Service will fund this project at just more than one million dollars to begin the first year of work, slated to begin immediately. Funds will be matched by existing Forest Service budgets and partners contributions.  An estimated eighty percent of the first year’s funds will be used to attain workers, engineers, contractors, equipment and supplies directly from the private sector.

Members of the Southwestern Crown Collaborative, which includes conservation groups, timber companies and rural community organizations, are celebrating after submitting their winning proposal to the Forest Service three months ago.  That proposal will guide the next ten years of work.

“This is bringing us much closer in uniting the goals of forest health and local livelihoods,” said Dave Glaser, president of Montana Community Development Corporation.  “But after the celebrating it will be time to roll up our sleeves and get this important work started.”

“This is an amazing opportunity.  The long term dedication of so many people to the conservation of this area has really paid off,” said Debbie Austin, supervisor of the Lolo National Forest and co-chair of the collaborative.  “This effort between public and private entities will bring a positive and lasting difference to the ecology and economics of the area.”

Major impacts of the Southwest Crown work will include the creation of new full and part-time jobs in the woods, enhancement of recreational experiences, restoration of one thousand miles of impaired streams, improvement of tens of thousands of acres of wildlife habitat, and a reduction of wildfire threats to neighboring communities on thousands of acres of high-risk lands.

“The Blackfoot, Clearwater and Swan River Valleys will greatly benefit from the collaborative, science-based ecosystem restoration work planned over the next decade” said Jim Stone, Chairman of the Blackfoot Challenge.  “In addition to the long list of activities, the proposal’s emphasis on treating 80% of all high risk acres on Forest System land is a significant aid to increase the safety of our communities from wildfire.  We look forward to both public and private stakeholder’s ongoing partnership to reduce fuel loads and restore forests across all ownerships.”

This year’s initial funding will be used on projects that propose to:

• Directly create 52 full and part time jobs
• Restore 1,368 acres of forest land
• Reduce fire risk on 1,535 acres of high-risk lands within the wildland-urban interface
• Improve fisheries habitat and water quality for 181 miles of streams
• Mitigate noxious weeds on 14,655 acres
• Upgrade 5 stream crossing structures
• Improve 70 miles of trails and roads benefitting water quality and fisheries habitat
• Improve wildlife security on 4,200 acres
• Monitor effectiveness of restoration work on 3,160 acres

The amount of additional funding available for the following nine years will depend on an annual congressional appropriation.  Congress appropriated $10 million to a national fund this fiscal year but supporters are hoping the new federal program receives the full funding level of $40 million in the 2011 budget – and beyond.

“We’ve got great work planned but in order to fully realize it, we need this to continue to be a priority for congressional funding,” said Scott Brennan, The Wilderness Society’s Forest Program Director and a co-chair of the collaborative group that developed the proposal. “Creating a sustainable economy through the science-based restoration of our national forests is a whole new way of doing things.”

While the Southwestern Crown of the Continent is characterized by a strong culture of collaboration and has benefited from public and private investments aimed at preserving working lands and enhancing local economies, much of its forests remain in need of restoration due to a century of fire suppression and past management practices.

“This proposal offers the opportunity to realize the potential of stewardship and restoration at the landscape level while providing multiple goods and services to benefit rural communities,” said Gordy Sanders, Resource Manager for Pyramid Mountain Lumber in Seeley Lake.

As work on multiple projects is being completed, a crucial component of successful forest restoration will involve follow-up monitoring to assess whether goals are being met. To that end, some funds will be used by the University of Montana to ensure monitoring is scientifically valid and engages the next generation of forest managers.

“One of the most exciting aspects of this restoration proposal is its emphasis on monitoring the effects of the various restoration treatments,” said Jim Burchfield, Associate Dean of The University of Montana’s College of Forestry and Conservation. “The proposal details specific indicators where teams of scientists, managers, students and community members will conduct ongoing, rigorous measurements of impacts to learn how ecosystems and communities are changing based on restoration efforts.”

The Southwestern Crown of the Continent Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program was developed in response to a new national forest restoration program created in early 2009, when President Obama signed the Forest Landscape Restoration Act into law.  The purpose of CFLRP is to encourage collaborative, science-based ecosystem restoration of priority forest landscapes. Click here to learn more about the CFLRP.

The project is supported by Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester, the Governor’s office, local county commissioners and many others.

Contacts:

Bill Carey, Missoula County Commissioner (406-258-3200)

Debbie Austin, Lolo National Forest Supervisor and SW Crown Co-Chair (406-240-0943)
Scott Brennan, Wilderness Society Forest Program Director and SW Crown Co-Chair (406-600-7846)
Gary Burnett, Executive Director, Blackfoot Challenge (406-793-3900)

Gordy Sanders, Resource Manager, Pyramid Mountain Lumber (406-239-3145)

Jim Burchfield, Associate Dean, College of Forestry and Conservation, The University of Montana, (406-243-6650)

Dave Glaser, President, Montana Community Development Corporation (406-728-9234 ext. 205)

Heal the forest, clear the stream, kill the weeds and build the trails. Pay the logger, help the wildlife, fight the fire, save the mill.

“That’s the way forward, is to look at our forests and our communities at the landscape level,” said Scott Brennan. “That’s the only way out of gridlock.”

Brennan, who works with the Wilderness Society, has been meeting lately with lumbermen and economic developers and U.S. Forest Service officials, and together they’ve assembled an optimistic plan for restoring both forests and local economies.

If successful, their proposal will bring in $90 million over the next 10 years, an ambitious and unprecedented investment in woods work, covering lands in the Blackfoot, Clearwater and Swan river valleys.” (Click here to read the full article.)

Missoula, MT. – A local proposal to create more than 150 jobs and restore forest lands within the Southwestern Crown of the Continent is one of two nominated for a significant sum of federal funding by U.S. Forest Service Northern Regional Forester Leslie Weldon.

If selected by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, the region encompassing the Blackfoot, Clearwater and Swan River Valleys could receive up to $90 million dollars over the next ten years to restore forests, enhance recreational experiences, fix impaired streams, improve thousands of acres of wildlife habitat and reduce the risks of wildfire to communities.

“We have been working for years in western Montana to unite the goals of forest health and local livelihoods.  This proposal funds the work that accomplishes both,” said Rosalie Sheehy Cates, president of Montana Community Development Corporation.  “This is the future of forest management on federal lands.”

The forest restoration proposal was recently hammered out by a group of diverse interests in western Montana called the Southwestern Crown Collaborative.  Members of the collaborative, including conservation groups, timber companies, and rural community organizations, were encouraged by the nomination.

“Working with this collaborative group has been incredibly rewarding,” said Lolo National Forest Supervisor and collaborative co-chair Debbie Austin.  “People from so many different backgrounds and interests have come together and formed a common vision for the SW Crown. The energy, passion, and sense of place are wonderful!  I look forward to competing in the next level of the process.”

Participants in the SW Crown Collaborative touted the proposal’s potential.

“This is a major step toward restoring some of Montana’s most treasured national forest lands, creating jobs and protecting communities from wildfire risks,” said Scott Brennan, The Wilderness Society’s Forest Program Director and a co-chair of the collaborative group that developed the proposal.

While the southwestern Crown of the Continent is characterized by a strong culture of collaboration and has benefited from public and private investments aimed at preserving working lands and enhancing local economies, much of the forests remain in need of restoration due to a century of fire suppression and past management practices.

“This proposal offers the opportunity to realize the potential of Stewardship and Restoration at the landscape level while providing multiple goods and services to benefit rural communities,” said Gordy Sanders, Resource Manager for Pyramid Mountain Lumber in Seeley Lake.

The collaborative’s proposal would guide a decade of work on National Forest System (NFS) lands within the Southwestern Crown while reducing the risk of fire to rural communities and restoring forests habitat, and water quality.  The proposal, if implemented, would also boost local rural economies by creating jobs and increasing small business income.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to develop a restoration economy in the Swan. It will boost our local economy, protect our watershed and make the community safer during the next fire,” said Anne Dahl, Executive Director of the Swan Ecosystem Center and participant in the SW Crown Collaborative. “I’m proud of the cooperation in our three watersheds.”

If fully implemented, the proposed program of work would accomplish the following:

• Create approximately 170 full and part-time jobs during each of the next 10 years
• Contribute approximately $9.1 million annually in direct labor income
• Produce up to 189 MMBF of sawlogs and biomass over 10 years.
• Restore 46,000 acres of forest land
• Reduce fire risk on 27,000 acres of high-risk lands within the wildland-urban interface
• Restore 937 miles of streams
• Mitigate noxious weeds on 81,000 acres
• Upgrade 149 stream crossing structures
• Reduce distributions of non-native fish species in area lakes
• Reduce erosion on 650 miles of roads
• Improve 280 miles of trails
• Store or decommission 400 miles of roads
• Improve wildlife security on 9500 acres via road decommissioning
• Restore and rehabilitate 33 campsites in the Bob Marshall Wilderness
• Reduce water quality impacts associated with six trailhead facilities
• Reclaim 40 acres impacted by past placer mining

“The Blackfoot Challenge recognizes that our forests are in need of management and restoration to address fire safety concerns for our communities, improve ecosystem function and retain forest-related jobs,” said Denny Iverson, chairman of the Challenge’s Forestry Committee.  “Public and private landowners alike recognize that by working across ownerships we will benefit residents, businesses and visitors to the watershed. The proposal’s emphasis on treating 80% of all high risk acres, as identified in the area’s three Community Wildfire Protection Plans, is a significant aid to increase the safety of communities from wildfire.”

The Southwestern Crown of the Continent Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) proposal was developed in response to a new national forest restoration program created in early 2009 when President Obama signed the Forest Landscape Restoration Act into law.  The purpose of CFLRP is to encourage the collaborative, science-based ecosystem restoration of priority forest landscapes.

Regional Forester Leslie Weldon also nominated a proposal from the Clearwater Basin Collaborative in Idaho.  A final selection decision by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Chief of the Forest Service is expected this summer.

In addition to the Forest Service nomination, the proposal has received letters of support from Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester, the Governor’s office, local county commissioners, and many others.