Sheep Gap project detailed

It is hard to believe that only a couple of months ago Sheep Gap was ablaze. Now, the same area is covered in a blanket of snow. In fact, enough snow to cancel Tuesday’s scheduled field tour to discuss salvage and rehabilitation project proposals for the area.

Instead of going out and “kicking dirt,” Dave Hattis, USFS Plains District Ranger, decided to have a meeting indoors to discuss proposed post-fire salvage activity.

The proposed Sheep Gap project includes the harvest of dead and dying trees located on approximately 2,125 acres, which is close to 11 percent of the total burned area of Sheep Gap. The goal of harvesting these trees is to “recover the economic value of forest products in a timely manner to contribute to employment and income in local communities and avoid loss of commodity value,” according to FS officials.

Other proposed activity includes reducing hazards that could be threatening to the safety of the public. Proposals within the scope include removing dead and dying trees 100 feet from both sides of burned area roads, removal and/or replacement of culverts, renovation or relocation of currently damaged roads, and clearing of hiking trails.

The Sheep Gap fire caused high levels of tree mortality, therefore little to no seed survived for natural revegetation. Tree planting is proposed as a means to re-establish forested conditions and encourage recovery of public lands, a Forest Plan requirement. According to Mike Mueller, FS Silviculturalist, Ponderosa Pine, Larch and Whitepine will be used to replant the lost vegetation. Most of the planting will take place in the Bemish and Swamp Creek areas where the fire killed roughly 90 percent of the trees.

The Lolo NF is requesting the proposal be assigned as an Emergency Situation Determination (ESD), in order to expedite the project. An ESD can only be designated when one or more of the following occur: “relief from hazards threatening human health and safety; mitigation of threats to natural resources of NFS or adjacent lands; or avoiding loss of commodity value sufficient to jeopardize the agency’s ability to accomplish objectives directly related to resource protection or restoration.” If ESD is granted, FS officials are hopeful that work on the ground will take place sooner.

Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District officials encourage public comments on proposed project issues or concerns in the Sheep Gap burned areas no later than Dec. 1, 2017. Comments can be mailed to: Project Leader, Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District, P.O. Box 429, Plains, MT 59859. Comments may be submitted electronically to: [email protected]. More information on the proposal can be located at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/lolo/landmanagement/

projects.