Flathead National Forest Issues New Project Proposal

The Flathead National Forest has proposed logging, thinning and prescribed burning on 14,532 acres of land west of Whitefish and Kalispell, Mont. The proposal, named the Cyclone Bill Project, is located about 13 miles west of Whitefish. The project area encompasses about 40,880 acres stretching from around Tally Lake on the north end to just north of Ashley Lake on the south. But work has been proposed only on 14,532 acres within that project area, scattered across 504 individual units of varying size.

According to a proposed action released recently, the project aims to reduce tree density and fuel loading, improve vegetation diversity and resilience to disease, and offer economic benefit through logging in an area that Montana, Flathead County and the U.S. Forest Service have prioritized for active forest management. Most of the proposed work would be commercial forest treatments, including 597 acres of clear-cut logging. Commercial thinning and logging would total 9,694 acres. Non-commercial work, such as ground thinning and prescribed burning, would total 4,838 acres.