We appreciate your consideration of our comments and hope they will be incorporated into the final exchange. 



Sincerely, 



L. F. Thomas, President ASC 



Tony Schoonen, PLAAl 



(Note: An identical letter was addressed to DNRC.) 



RESPONSE #4: 



Thank you for your thoughtful review of the DEIS. Your request that signage be maintained along 

 property boundaries is certainly reasonable, and we will try to do so. However, rates and earmarking of 

 revenues from DNRC's Recreational Use Fee are set by the Legislature and are beyond the scope of this 

 project. As you have suggested, FWP will have a heightened influence on forest management on DNRC 

 lands within the BCWMA by way of a special Cooperative Management Agreement. Under this 

 Agreement, FWP will have the opportunity to prescribe deferrals of timber harvest in key habitats on 

 DNRC lands. In return, DNRC trust beneficiaries will benefit from timber harvested under habitat 

 enhancement prescriptions on FWP lands. In practice, we intend that forest management prescriptions 

 will be blended indistinguishably across FWP and DNRC property boundaries, leaving cover and 

 stimulating understory forage production in the most beneficial mosaic for wintering elk, deer and other 

 wildlife. The draft Cooperative Management Agreement is presented in Appendix B of the DEIS. Finally, 

 you commented that current public access easements should be retained for public use. DNRC does not 

 have public access easements to the DNRC scattered tracts being exchanged to Plum Creek, and DNRC 

 will not purchase easements for these lands. FWP is not planning to purchase public easements from 

 Plum Creek within the BCWMA at this time, and current levels of public access within the BCWMA will be 

 maintained as allowed by cooperation among the landowners. 



WRITTEN COMMENT #5: 



March 9,2001 



Kathy O'Connor 



DNRC 



2705 Spurgin Road 



Missoula, MT 59804 



Mike Thompson 



FWP 



3201 Spurgin Road 



Missoula, MT 59804 



Dear Ms. O'Cormor and Mr. Thompson 



Thanks for giving me a chance to comment on the Blackfoot-Clearwater Exchange. I picked up and reviewed the 

 Draft Environmental Impact Statement dated February 200 1 . 



Upon my review of the report, I do have some comments in which I support, some in which I have concerns or 

 questions in some of the details. 



BCWMA Land Exchanges Final Environmental Impact Statement 13 



