Forest opts for smaller salvage sale for Trail Creek
A sign marks the Trail Creek fire area up the Spotted Bear River drainage.
The Flathead National Forest has opted for the smaller alternative to salvage some of the trees that burned in the Trail Creek fire last summer.
In its draft decision released Monday, the Forest said it’s proposing to harvest 834 acres of burned and dead trees, which would result in about 4.3 million board feet of timber.
The project would construct 3.3 miles of new roads to be placed into storage at the project’s end, though it utilizes an old road template that’s been bermed and gated. The alternative does construct 1.6 miles of temporary roads.
The road would be closed to motorized use once the salvage is completed.
The bulk of the logging would be in the Bent and South Creek areas, just north of the Spotted Bear River, with a smaller unit near Big Bill.
Several of the units were already slated for logging under the Spotted Bear River project of 2011, noted project leader Matt Shaffer.
The Trail Creek Fire burned about 22,195 acres last summer and was one of the biggest fires in the state.
It burned largely in an unroaded area north of the Spotted Bear River and in the Great Bear Wilderness, where logging is not allowed.
The sale amounts to less than 4 percent of the fire area.
A final decision on the project is expected in November.