Clark Fork Chronicle
March 21, 2007
By John Q. Murray

Missoula County commissioners endorsed in principle a wilderness bill that would include provisions for annual stewardship projects over the next 10 years on the Seeley Lake Ranger District.

The commissioners agreed Monday to write a letter supporting a proposal from the Blackfoot Cooperative Landscape Stewardship Project.

The collaborative agreement among the Montana wilderness Association, Pyramid Mountain Lumber, Blackfoot community groups, and several other groups is working its way toward Montana's congressional delegation, organizers said Monday.

The proposal, which combines wilderness designation with economic development, could become a model for other ranger districts across Montana and the West, they said.

The proposal would add 81,000 acres to the Bob Marshall-Scapegoat and 6,000 acres to the Mission Mountains wilderness areas.

It would also provide annual appropriations of $750,000 over the next ten years to fund planning, management, restoration, and monitoring of projects on 400,000 acres in the Lolo National Forest portion of the Blackfoot watershed.

The $750,000 each year breaks down as follows: $350,000 for planning, management, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting for landscape stewardship projects; $250,000 for restoration activities matched dollar for dollar by other organizations; $100,000 for in-house restoration activities on the Seeley Lake Ranger District; and $50,000 for restoration projects within the Blackfoot Community Conservation Area.

The area is expected to provide four million board feet of timber each year.
The package also includes a $7 million biomass pilot project, which includes construction of a 3.2 megawatt co-generation facility at Pyramid Mountain Lumber. The co-gen facility is expected to add 20-30 jobs in Seeley Lake.

Bob Ekey of the wilderness Society, John Gatchell of the Montana wilderness Association, Gordy Sanders of Pyramid Lumber, and Jim Stone, chairman of the Blackfoot Challenge who was acting as an Ovando rancher, answered the commissioners' questions about the project Monday during the regular Rural Initiatives meeting.

This project is completely consistent with, and implements the Lolo forest plan, they pointed out.

"This is the first proposal that really implements the forest plan on the Seeley Lake Ranger District. The point is to show that you can get things done in the ground," Gordy said.

Other partners include the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Rich Ranch, Rolling Stone Ranch, and the Seeley Lake Driftriders snowmobile group.

The group has held numerous public meetings and has not encountered any opposition, they said. They expect to meet with Congressional staffers next week.