USFS Seeks Public Comment for the Taylor Hellroaring Project EAS

Kalispell, MT – The Tally Lake Ranger District of the Flathead National Forest is asking for public comment on the Environmental Assessment for the Taylor Hellroaring Project. The project is located northwest of Whitefish, Montana.

The project addresses multiple resource objectives including: Increasing forest resilience to insect infestation and disease infection; reducing the risk and severity of large scale stand-replacing fires to protect values at risk within the Wildland Urban Interface, Whitefish Mountain Resort (WMR) and electronic sites along the Whitefish Divide; restoring rust-resistant whitebark and western white pine; providing a range of trail experiences for hikers, mountain bikers and horse riders to connect the local community with the Flathead National Forest; and maintaining and improving terrestrial wildlife species habitat and security.

The proposed action includes: up to 40 miles of new trail construction; a new trail head; approximately 943 acres of commercial harvest activities; prescribed burning without timber harvest on approximately 500 acres to reduce conifer encroachment into the shrub dominated areas; rejuvenating wildlife browse by stimulating re-sprouting of fire adapted shrubs and grasses; creating a more diverse mosaic of vegetation; reducing down fuel accumulations; and regenerating whitebark pine.

The release of the Environmental Assessment starts a 30-day comment period for the public to review the document, ask questions about the proposed activities, and provide comments to the Forest Service. A legal notice will be posted in the Daily Interlake with dates for the comment period.  The legal notice and the Environmental Assessment is available online .   To find out more about the project please contact Deb Bond, project team leader, at the Flathead National Forest, (406) 758-5318.