FINDING 



PROPOSED ASHLEY LAKE TIMBER SALE 

 DNRC - KALISPELL UNIT 



December 29, 2003 



An interdisciplinary team (ID Team) has completed the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed 

 Ashley Lake Timber Sale on state owned land in Section 36, T29N, R24W. 



After a thorough review of the EA, project file, public correspondence. Department policies, standards, 

 guidelines, and the State Forest Land Management Rules 36.11.401 through 36.11.450, Administrative 

 Rules of Montana, I have made the following decisions concerning this project. 



1. ALTERNATIVE SELECTED 



Two alternatives are presented and were fully analyzed in the EA: 



• No-Action Alternative: Timber management other than occasional, small amounts of salvage 

 would not occur. Minimal road maintenance on state roads and some noxious weed control might 

 occur, dependent upon funding and factors affecting priority. Public uses of the project area for 

 general recreation and firewood cutting would continue. Wildland fire suppression would 

 continue. 



• Action Alternative: The proposed timber sale would entail harvesting approximately 4-8 million 

 board feet (MMBF) of timber from 628 acres. Three harvest units would be treated with a 

 seedtree harvest cut. Nine miles of existing road would be used and maintained. All but 1.08 

 miles of road would be closed to motorized use after logging is complete. After logging 

 treatments would include mechanical site preparation or prescribed burning on 420 acres and 

 hand planting western larch seedlings over 350 acres. 



Both the No-Action and Action alternatives would: 



- Meet the project objective to maintain and improve future management activities by developing a 

 transportation system that utilizes existing roads to minimize new road construction. 



I have selected the Action Alternative for implementation with the understanding that resource 

 mitigation measures identified in the Environmental Assessment will be applied to meet the intended 

 protection. 



For the following reasons, the Action Alternative has been selected: 



• The Action Alternative meets the Statement of Need and all of the specific project objectives on 

 pages 1 and 2 of the EA. 



