1.0 Chapter 1: Purpose of and Needi 



for Action 



1.1 Proposed Action: Harvest 



The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) proposes 

 to harvest timber in the Deadman Gulch area. Under Alternative B: Harvest, the 

 department would harvest approximately 1.5-2.5 million board feet of timber from 

 645 acres. The proposed action would be implemented as early as July 2003 and 

 could be completed by February 2006. Slash work and burning associated with the 

 sale may not be completed until 2008. 



1.2 Location 



The location of the proposed project is: Sections 15 and 16, T12N, R20W, Missoula 

 County. The proposed sale is located approximately 3 miles southwest of Missoula, 

 Montana in the watershed of the Bitterroot River. Nearly all of the project area is 

 visible from Highway 93 as well as from a number of homes in the community. 



1.3 Need for the Action 



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

 for the support of specific beneficiary institutions. These include public schools, state 

 colleges and universities, and other specific state institutions such as the School for 

 the Deaf and Blind (Enabling Act, February 22, 1889; 1972 Montana Constitution, 

 Article X, Section 11). The Board of Land Commissioners and Department of 

 Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) are required by law to administer these 

 Trust Lands to produce the largest measure of reasonable and legitimate advantage 

 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 philosophy of DNRC for 

 the management of state forested Trust Lands. 



The Department will manage the lands involved in this project according to the 

 philosophy in the SFLMP, which states the following: 



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 objectives (DNRC, SFLMP Record of Decision 

 1996 [ROD-1]). 



Deadman Gulch Timber Sale Environmental Assessment 1-1 



