GRAZED WOODLAND NEEDING TREATMENT 



Conservation treatment to improve forage for grazing is needed on 

 1,370,623 acres (31 percent) of the forest land being grazed. Treatment 

 can be accomplished by applying the same management type practices need- 

 ed for range land. Some reduction of timber and brush may be desirable 

 on noncommercial stands but seeding to grass is generally not required. 

 Nearly 288,341 acres (42 percent) of the noncommercial forest and 

 1,082,282 acres (28 percent) of the commercial forest lands could im- 

 prove the grazing resource with proper livestock management and yet 

 maintain or even improve the timber resource. 



Reduction or the elimination of grazing is needed on 708,928 acres 

 (16 percent) of the forest land being grazed. It is desirable to reduce 

 or eliminate grazing from all forested areas requiring establishment or 

 reinforcement of timber stands to protect new seedlings. There should 

 be a minimum disturbance of critical areas needing maximum cover to 

 protect the soil resource from erosion. 



Protection from Fire 



Fire protection is needed on all forest and range land in the 

 State. Federally managed lands and much of the State owned lands have 

 adequate fire protection except for some areas that are intermingled 

 with private ownership. Much of the land in private ownership lacks 

 facilities and organization to develop effective fire control. Agree- 

 ments with existing fire control districts need to be expanded to ade- 

 quately protect range and forest resource from fire and damage. To 

 offer optimum protection to forest and range lands, all existing fire 

 protective organizations need to up-date and reexamine their coopera- 

 tive agreements, particularly with respect to capital, facilities, man- 

 power and reporting procedures for local needs. 



Protection from Insects and Disease 



Detection and protection from insects and disease is needed on all 

 22 million acres of Montana's forests. Losses of commercial timber from 

 insects and disease far exceed the loss by fire. Historically, early 

 detection of insect or disease damage to forest lands has been somewhat 

 less than optimum. 



For the present, there is no pressing need to up-date protection 

 programs since insect deimage is somewhat cyclic and disease is related 

 generally to the weakened condition caused by insects. Effective control 

 measures that are acceptable to all environmental groups for reducing 

 damage have not yet been developed. Therefore, early detection of 

 insect and disease outbreaks could be very beneficial inasmuch as 

 commercial timber so affected could be harvested while it is still 

 merchantable. 



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