CHECKLIST ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT 



Project Name: Happy Valley Timber Sale 



Proposed 



Implementalion Date: Summer/Fall 2004 



Proponent: Kaiispel! Unit, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) 



Location: SW 1/4 , E V2 SE Va Section 29, T30N, R21 W - 240 acres owned for ACB trust 



Lots 1 , 2, Section 31 , T31 N, R21 W - 41 .31 owned for SNS trust 

 NW Vi NE 1/4 , NW 'A Section 32, T31N, R21W -200 acres owned for SNS trust 



County: Flathead 



I. TYPE AND PURPOSE OF ACTION 



The Kalispell Unit proposes to sell and harvest approximately 3 million board feet from the above listed state 

 owned lands. Activities would include 2 harvest units totaling 443 acres; use of existing roads and 

 abandonment of approximately 2 miles of road; fire hazard reduction treatments within the harvest units; and 

 planting western larch and ponderosa pine seedlings on 100 acres or less. Section 77-1-202, Montana Code 

 Annotated (MCA) requires the Board of Land Commissioners and DNRC to administer trust lands for generating 

 revenue for the trusts' benefit. Under Section 77-5-223, MCA the DNRC administered state timber sale program 

 is required to offer for sell 40 to 50 million board feet of timber statewide. The proposed Happy Valley timber 

 sale would assist in achieving the above mandated objectives. Site specific objectives for the project area are: 

 maintain or restore forest health; promote historic forest stand conditions and species compositions; and reduce 

 fuels in stands adjacent to residential property. 



II. PROJECT DEVELOPMENT 



1. PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT, AGENCIES, GROUPS OR INDIVIDUALS CONTACTED: 



Provide a brief chronology of the scoping and ongoing involvement for this project. 

 In October/November 2002, legal notices were placed with these local newspapers - Daily Interlake, Hungry 

 Horse News, and Whitefish Pilot. Scoping letters were sent to adjacent landowners and those interested parties 

 on the Kalispell Unit mailing list for scoping notices. Response letters were sent to those commenting by letter. 

 Those involved in project development from DNRC include; Gary Hadlock, road and logging engineer; Garrett 

 Schairer & Norm Merz, wildlife biologists; Tony Nelson, soils & hydrology; Terry Thorpe, forester/project leader; 

 Beverly O'Brien, unit forest management supervisor; and Greg Poncin, unit manager/decision maker. In October 

 2003 a newsletter was sent to adjacent landowners and interested parties informing them of the project status 

 and more detail of the timber sale design. No additional comments or input have been received from outside 

 the agency. 



2. OTHER GOVERNMENTAL AGENCIES WITH JURISDICTION, LIST OF PERMITS NEEDED: 



Department of Environmental Quality: annual air quality permit for regulation & coordination of slash burning 

 Flathead County Road Department: an encroachment permit for requesting or performing application of road 

 dust abatement on segments of the county road 



3. ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED: 



During the scoping and project development phases, only the sale of forest products was identified as an 

 immediate opportunity for generating revenue. As a result, two alternatives - the NO ACTION and ACTION 

 were developed for this proposal and are described below. 



1) NO ACTION: Harvesting and selling timber from 433 acres would not occur. Existing public uses of 

 land and roads for recreation would continue. The western larch/Douglas-fir timber stands would 



