Groups seek cooperative effort for Blacktail Mountain trail systems

Although funding is tied up in federal budget cuts, the U.S. Forest Service is proceeding with plans to add new motorized and non-motorized trails in the Blacktail Island Unit west of Lakeside.

A collaborative group is being formed and the Forest Service is seeking volunteers to help with trail creation, trails program manager Joy Sather said. Richard Kehr, district ranger for the Swan Lake Ranger District in Bigfork, said the collaborative group would be used to make sure the trail project is managed appropriately.

A public meeting with interested groups and individuals was April 4. At the meeting Sather said she would like to begin doing some flagging work for new trails this month.

Some $55,000 in federal Payment in Lieu of Taxes funding from the Resource Advisory Committee is slated for the Blacktail Island Unit trails project, but the Forest Service can’t spend that money until they get approval, Sather said. The approval could come this year, but in the meantime Sather wants to get started by using volunteer labor.

Project funding will be eventually needed for such things as signs, maps, brochures, law enforcement, education and trailhead work, including installation of billboards, toilets and garbage cans.

A decision on the project was made last July. It authorized creation of nearly three miles of new motorized trail and rehabilitation of 38.6 miles of National Forest roads for motorized use. These roads have been closed for some time and are overgrown. The combined 41.6 miles of new motorized trails would be added to 10.3 miles in the Wild Bill Off-Highway Vehicle Trail that winds from Blacktail Mountain to Lake Mary Ronan.

Also included in the trail plan are 11.5 miles of non-motorized trail. The trail would run along the northern portion of the 46,000-acre unit that stretches from just above Lakeside, northwest to near Kila and southeast almost to Lake Mary Ronan.

The Forest Service plans to use Forest Service Road 2990 as a motorized trail to connect the Kerr Mountain area on the east to the Truman Creek area on the west. The road is closed from Nov. 15 to March 31 each year primarily because of skiing and wildlife, Sather said.

Kehr said the Forest Service plans to change FS Road 2990 into a multi-use trail.

During a question-and-answer session last week, Kehr said a potential logging operation could impact trail use in the Blacktail Island Unit at some point. Coordination between interested parties would have to occur if the Wild Cramer Forest Health and Fuels Reduction Project gets going, Kehr said. The Wild Cramer project is currently out for public review, he said.

Another issue that was discussed at last week’s meeting involved dust abatement for residents who live along a 1.5-mile section of Blacktail Road that is owned by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The first three miles of Blacktail Road are owned by Flathead County, but residents who have complained about dust live on the FAA-owned section, Kehr said. He noted that there has been some discussion about the FAA ceding control of their section of Blacktail Road to the county, but nothing definitive has been decided.

Adam Rissien, a representative of Wildlands CPR in Missoula, said last week that he advised homeowners along the FAA-owned section of Blacktail Road to drop their appeal of the Forest Service’s decision last year. Rissien said a lawsuit would not solve the dust problem. Instead he recommended working collaboratively with other groups to remedy the situation.

Leslie Gray, the lead plaintiff in the appeal, agreed to withdraw the appeal after the Forest Service dropped one short segment of road from the management plan and agreed to help implement dust abatement and increase law enforcement.

Representatives of Big Sky 4-Wheelers said at last week’s meeting that their members usually access the Blacktail Island Unit from Kila and consequently are not causing the dust problem. The motorized trails are popular with locals and tourists. Forest Service recreation specialist Colter Pence said Canadians and out-of-state residents seek out the motorized trails.

For information or to volunteer with trail construction, call Sather at 837-7509 or email jsather02@fs.fed.us.