Missoula BLM seeks input on Belmont-Gold environmental assessment
Organization
Media Contact:
(MISSOULA, Mont.) – The Bureau of Land Management’s Missoula Field Office is asking for public comment on a plan for forest restoration and fuels reduction treatments on recently-acquired lands in the Belmont-Gold area, north of the Lower Blackfoot Corridor.
The project will reduce the risk of high-intensity wildfire. Proposed treatments include pre-commercial thinning, prescribed burning, timber harvest, and mastication.
“We want to address upland forest conditions on these lands that have shifted away from fire-tolerant open ponderosa pine and western larch stands towards less fire-tolerant stands dominated by small-diameter dense stands of mostly Douglas fir,” said Jodi Wetzstein, Supervisory Forester and Silviculturist with the Missoula Field Office. “The purpose of the project is to reduce the risk of high-intensity wildfire in upland forest types while simultaneously creating conditions that are resilient to future disturbances and creating quality wildlife habitats using an ecosystem management approach."
All the lands covered by this assessment have been acquired by the BLM since 2016. These acquisitions have used Land and Water Conservation Fund funding to purchase former Plum Creek Timber Company lands from The Nature Conservancy.
For more information, contact David Tingley at (406) 329-3928 or email at dtingley@blm.gov.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.