Pine beetle infestation appears to be abating in sections of the state, but new concerns have emerged in forests across Northwest Montana, according to studies by the U.S. Forest Service and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

Aerial surveys of forestlands conducted last year showed signs of western spruce budworm and pine butterfly in parts of Northwest Montana and the southern Bitterroot Valley, according to the 2011 Montana Forest Insect and Disease Conditions report released this week.

The 2011 survey identified almost 1.2 million total acres defoliated by the western spruce budworm, compared to about 326,000 acres affected in 2010 and 2.6 million acres affected in 2009. Flathead, Lincoln and Sanders counties had the highest number of acres affected. Western spruce budworm attacks Douglas-fir, spruce, and true fir trees. The insect rarely kills trees but defoliation severely stresses the tree.

“Healthy, mature trees usually rebound once the outbreak subsides, as long as they have adequate moisture available to them and nutrients stored in their root systems,” Amy Gannon, DNRC entomologist, said in a statement.

Gannon also noted Douglas-fir tussock moth and pine butterfly are increasingly active in the western part of the state. Douglas-fir tussock moth overlaps with western spruce budworm on Douglas-fir, spruce and true firs and is most active in the northwest part of the state. Pine butterfly defoliates mature ponderosa pine and is at outbreak levels in the Bitterroot Valley.

The aerial surveys showed beetle-kill appears to be in decline in many of Montana’s forests.

“Conditions are improving. We are seeing a continued decline in mountain pine beetle activity in many areas across the state, indicating the epidemic may have reached its peak,” Gregg DeNitto, Forest Service pathologist and leader of the agency’s Forest Health Protection office in Missoula, said.

The 2011 survey recorded beetle-caused mortality on over 1 million acres, compared to 2 million in 2010, and 3.6 million in 2009.

The report presents county-by-county information gathered from aerial detection flights and ground surveys covering roughly 20.5 million forested acres across Montana, and includes lands of all ownerships, according to a news release from the DNRC.

The report can be read here.

 

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New York filmmaker Brian Bolster was backpacking through Glacier National Park when he came across a fire lookout. The solitary day-to-day lives of people living perched atop mountains, scanning the horizon for wildfires, intrigued Bolster. The result is a 16-minute award-winning documentary, titled “The Lookout.” Bolster spent six days and five nights single-handedly filming Leif Haugen, a fire lookout for the Flathead National Forest, as he performs his daily duties at the Thoma Lookout in the North Fork area near the Canadian Border.

The documentary has been gaining attention and awards at film festivals around the country. It won the top prize at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival held recently in Missoula.

“I had a hunch that lookouts have a special connection to not only the environment around them, but also to the structure in which they live and work,” Bolster says. “As I was shooting this project, I quickly learned that fire lookouts and the individuals that staff them are an important part of our nation’s history, and I really wanted to showcase their work to audiences who may not be familiar with their unique, yet often times unnoticed, role in fire management.”

Bolster’s film reflects on solitude and the expansive landscape using impressive cinematography. One of the true rewards of being a lookout is seen through Bolster’s lens – pitch black skies peppered with bright stars; a wide open gallery of illuminated sunsets and mountain ranges.

Bolster also highlights the importance of fire lookouts to wildfire management. Fire lookouts -- both the cabin structures and the individuals who station them — dot the landscape throughout the West, particularly in Montana. Flathead National Forest has four lookouts that are staffed every year during the summer and several others that can be staffed when needed.

“Fire lookouts are the quietest aspect of fire management, and many people may think we don’t staff them anymore,” Haugen says. “I hope this film helps to show that the lookout program is strong and well used in the fire management program, especially in the Flathead area. I’m very proud that my lookout friends, despite all having very different experiences based on the variety of settings they work in, have seen it and feel that the film does a good job of capturing the day in the life of a lookout experience.”

“The Lookout” is currently screening at various film festivals around the country. For more information and updates on the film, you can check out the films movie page on Facebook or email Brian Bolster at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

 

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Hellroaring Basin at the Whitefish Mountain Resort will be closed on April 1 to provide security areas for emerging grizzly bears, the Flathead National Forest announced on Monday.

This closure occurs each spring and skiers and snowboarders are being asked to comply with this closure, or risk having their passes (day or season) revoked for violating the closure.

On April 1, snowmobilers will also be restricted to accessing the summit of the mountain and the Summit House by the Canyon Creek trail.

Whitefish Mountain Resort ski area and snowmobile access to the summit will close April 8.

For questions regarding the Hellroaring Basin closure, call Hans Castren, Resource Assistant for the Tally Lake Ranger District, at 758-5352. For questions regarding the snowmobile closure, call Chris Prew, Resource Assistant for the Glacier View Ranger District, at 387-3818.

 

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The Swan Lake Ranger District has scheduled multiple prescribed fire projects when weather, fuel conditions and air quality become favorable.

The Flathead National Forest recently sent out a news release reminding residents that smoke would be visible from various places in the Flathead Valley and the Swan Valley depending on the location of the burn units and weather conditions.

Hand or machine piles that are located in several locations within the Swan Valley and Blacktail Mountain will be burned as well.

The project areas include:

Blacktail Mountain Area – Up to 310 acres of logging slash from previously logged areas will be burned. In addition, prescribed fire will treat 22 acres of natural fuels on Kerr Mountain.

Haskill Mountain Area – This ecosystem burn project targets 128 acres of mid to upper elevation brush and conifer.

Crane Mountain Area – This work includes three units in the Estes Lake, Hunger Creek and Crane Creek areas. The area is located several miles south of Ferndale, above Woods Bay, totaling 506 acres. A temporary closure on Trail #96 into the Estes Lake Area may occur during burn operations.

Piper Creek Area – The Mission Upland Burning Project will be implemented in phases during the spring and fall. A total of 1,036 acres will be treated in the Piper Creek Drainage. There may be temporary closures in the area including the Piper Creek Trail #119 during different phase of burning.

Meadow Smith – This project includes underburning timber stands located within the Meadow and Smith Creek areas of the Swan Valley.

For more information, contact the Swan Lake Ranger District in Bigfork at 406-837-7500.

 

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Smoke will be visible from around the valley while the Tally Lake Ranger District conducts prescribed fire projects. The Flathead National Forest is waiting for weather, fuel conditions and air quality become favorable before burning, according to a press release.

Prescribed burns are used throughout the forest to meet various management objectives, including returning fire to the ecosystem, maintaining or restoring plant communities and maintaining or improving wildlife habitat. Prescribed burns also help reduce hazardous fuel accumulations.

The news release said these projects will be in compliance with Montana air quality standards and coordinated with Montana State Department of Environmental Quality to reduce the impacts of smoke.

The project areas include:

Bill Creek Area: Up to three acres will be treated in spring 2012 to reduce hazardous fuel accumulation and maintain the presence of fire in the ecosystem. Smoke may be visible from various locations in the Flathead Valley.

Bootjack Lake Area/Farm to Market Road Area/Ashley Lake Area: Burning may start as soon as weather conditions are right and continue through June. These prescribed burns consist of hand piles that were created during a fuels reduction project. A total of 25 acres are planned for this spring.

For more information contact District Fire Management Officer Jim Reuter at 758-3522

 

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The Flathead National Forest is seeking public comment about a proposed collection of western larch cones in an effort to meet anticipated reforestation needs. Trees would need to be felled because of the inherent safety concerns of climbing larch trees, according to a FNF release. About 270 trees would need to be felled over a 10-year span to meet current anticipated needs. Cone collection will be focused in existing timber sale areas.

Comments and concerns regarding this project are being taken until April 16. Send feedback to the project leader, Marsha Moore, at 758-5325, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), or to Flathead National Forest, 650 Wolfpack Way, Kalispell, MT 59901.

To maximize cone production and minimize the amount of tree mortality, larger diameter trees are preferred. Trees selected for cone collection would not be older than 200 years.

After cones are collected, the felled trees would remain on site. Seed requirements may be met with fewer trees depending on crop abundance.

Shooting cone-bearing branches off trees to collect the cones is another method used for cone collection. This method is time consuming and is not deemed to be an efficient way of collecting larch cones within the short harvest period.

Cone collection could occur in other areas on the Flathead National Forest where adequate crops are identified.

“The amount of seed currently on hand is well below levels necessary to meet our planting needs,” Melissa Jenkins, forest silviculturist for the Flathead Forest, said in a news release.

“In Montana, we need to capture larch seed when a sufficient cone crop does occur. It is likely that cone harvest wouldn’t occur in some years due to the sporadic seed cycles of larch.”

 

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Registration for the spring hunter education course in Kalispell is Saturday, March 24 from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks headquarters on 490 N. Meridian Road.

Classes are held at Flathead High School from 6-9 p.m. on April 2-5. The field course is Saturday, April 7. Test night is Monday, April 9, 6-8 p.m.

For more information call FWP at 752-5501.

All hunter education classes are free of charge and open to hunters and non-hunters alike. By state law, anyone born after January 1, 1985, must have completed the course to buy a hunting license in Montana. The minimum age for hunting in Montana is 12 (11-year olds who turn 12 by Jan. 16 of the license year can qualify, see regulations). A parent or guardian must accompany students under 18 to sign the registration form.

 

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Glacier National Park officials are reminding visitors that off-trail travel through critical winter range areas is prohibited through May 15 in an effort to protect wildlife. Travel is limited to designated trails throughout specific areas in the North Fork, Lake McDonald and St. Mary districts of the park.

This restriction is intended to protect wintering ungulates such as deer, elk, moose and sheep from disturbance. Limiting human-use to designated trails will help protect the animals during the critical winter and spring months, a release from the park said.

Off-trail use is prohibited between Dec. 1-May 15 each year. Signs are posted at public access points in these locations.

In the North Fork area, the protection area is between the North Fork of the Flathead River and the North Fork Road south of Logging Creek and north of Dutch Creek. Other areas protected include: further south along the North Fork of the Flathead River; the winter range immediately east of the river from Big Creek south through Great Northern Flats; and the Apgar Mountains area.

In the Lake McDonald area, the restriction entails the Belton Hills area along the Middle Fork of the Flathead River corridor On the east side of the park, the winter range protection areas include the St. Mary, Two Dog Flats and Rising Sun areas.

Specific information about protected areas is offered through narrative and maps in the Glacier National Park 2012 Compendium which is located on the park's website by clicking on park management, laws and policies.

 

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