Management Standards for 10 resource 

 categories . 



DNRC manages the forested State 

 trust lands according to the 

 philosophy and standards in the 

 SFLMP, which states: 



^Our premise is that the best way 

 to produce long-term income for 

 the trust is to manage intensively 

 for healthy and biologically 

 diverse forests. Our 

 understanding is that a diverse 

 forest is a stable forest that 

 will produce the most reliable and 

 highest long-term revenue stream-. 

 In the foreseeable future, timber 

 management will continue to be our 

 primary source of revenue and our 

 primary tool for achieving 

 bi odi versi ty obj ecti ves . " 



PROPOSED OBJECTIVES 



To meet the goals of the management 

 philosophy adopted through a 

 programmatic review of the SFLMP, 

 DNRC has set specific objectives for 

 the Dog/Meadow Timber Sale Project: 



• Harvest 6 to 10 MMBF of sawtimber 

 to generate revenue for the 

 appropriate school trusts. As 

 mandated by State Statute 77-5-222 

 MCA, the proposed harvest would 

 also contribute toward maintaining 

 DNRC's sustained-yield 

 requirements . 



• Provide funding for completion of 

 site improvements needed to 

 promote long-term water quality 

 and maintain existing road 

 systems. Existing roads and 

 stream crossings in the project 

 area would be improved to ensure 

 that adequate road drainage, water 

 quality, and safety standards set 

 forth by current BMPs are met . 

 Specific design criteria may need 

 to be engineered to address any 

 known sources of sediment in the 

 Dog Creek and Meadow Creek 

 watersheds . 



• Implement management activities 

 that would bring the forest toward 

 desirable appropriate conditions. 

 Timber harvesting would be used to 



promote biodiversity on State- 

 owned lands by managing for 

 appropriate stand structures and 

 species compositions. Ecological 

 characteristics, such as landtype, 

 habitat type, disturbance regime, 

 and unique attributes, would be 

 used to determine appropriate 

 stand structures and compositions. 

 Harvesting would maintain or 

 improve the long-term productivity 

 of timber stands by increasing 

 stand vigor, reducing incidence 

 of, and potential for, insect 

 infestations and disease 

 infections, regenerating portions 

 of the stands where overall 

 timber-stand growth is decreasing, 

 and reducing the risk for high- 

 intensity, stand-replacement 

 wildfires . 



RELATIONSHIP TO THE SFLMP 



The SFLMP is a programmatic plan 

 that provides field personnel with 

 consistent policy, direction, and 

 guidance for the management of State 

 forested lands. It contains the 

 general philosophies and management 

 standards that provide the framework 

 for project-level decisions. 



The SFLMP guided the planning of the 

 proposed Dog/Meadow Timber Sale 

 Project. Its philosophy and 

 appropriate Resource Management 

 Standards have been incorporated 

 into the design of the proposed 

 actions. The Dog/Meadow Timber Sale 

 Project Environmental Assessment 

 (EA) is not intended as a 

 programmatic or area plan and is 

 limited to addressing specific 

 proposed actions in reference to 

 issues that were identified through 

 public involvement and 

 Interdisciplinary Team (ID Team) 

 input . 



EA PROCESS 



EA DEVELOPMENT 



This EA was prepared in compliance 

 with the Montana Environmental 

 Policy Act (MEPA) of 1971. The 

 intent of MEPA is to foster better 



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Dog/Meadow Timber Sale Project Draft EA 



