I. PURPOSE/MANAGKMENT OBJECTIVES 



A. Purpose 



The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) 

 proposes to begin forest management and timber harvesting on state 

 school trust lands in the Gladstone Creek area, west of Wolf Creek, 

 MT in Lewis & Clark County. The purposes of these proposed actions 

 are to generate revenue for the specific trusts from the harvest and 

 sale of forest products (timber) , and to restore stands, where 

 possible to a condition that may have commonly existed historically. 

 The proposed actions would start sometime after April, 1999 and 

 would likely be completed by December 2001, with actions limited to 

 a few months of actual work during this overall time frame. 



B . Project Need 



The lands involved in this proposed project are held by the State of 

 Montana in trust for the support of specific beneficiary 

 institutions such as public schools, state colleges and 

 universities, and other specific state institutions such as the 

 school for the deaf and blind (Enabling Act of February 22, 1889, 

 1972 Montana Constitution, Article X, Section 11) . The Board of 

 Land Commissioners and the Department of Natural Resources and 

 Conservation are required by law to administer these trust lands to 

 produce the largest measure of reasonable and legitimate return over 

 the long run for these beneficiary institutions (Section 77-1-202, 

 MCA) . On May 30, 1996, the Department released the Record of 

 Decision on the State Forest Land Management Plan (SFLMP) . The Land 

 Board approved the SFLMP' s implementation on June 17, 1996. The 

 SFLMP outlines the management philosophy of DNRC in the management 

 of state forested trust lands, as well as sets out specific Resource 

 Management Standards for ten resource categories. 



The Department will manage the lands involved in this project 

 according to the philosophy and standard 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 

 biodiversity obj ectives . 



C . Project Objectives 



To move forest stand, where possible, to a desired future condition 

 that is characterized by the proportion and distribution of forest 

 types and structures historically present on the landscape. 



