Glacier Country News

Flathead National Forest supervisor Kurt Steele approved a recreational project north of Columbia Falls, Montana. The project area includes Crystal Creek, Cedar Flats, Spoon Lake, Blankenship Road, and Teakettle Mountain. The Crystal Cedar project area is approximately 27,249 acres in size, consists of 25 miles of new trails, the treatment of 2,500 acres of commercial timber harvest, and will reduce fuel loads across 3,700 forested acres near neighborhoods.

According to the official Crystal Cedar Proposed Action, The Crystal Cedar Project seeks to address the following purposes and needs in the project area:

• Provide sustainable trail-based recreation opportunities close to local communities that are compatible with other resources.
• Reduce tree densities and fuel loadings within the wildland-urban interface to result in less intense fire behavior near communities and facilitate safe wildland fire operations.
• Improve the diversity and resilience of forest vegetative communities and associated wildlife habitat.
• Provide a mix of forest products to contribute to economic sustainability, providing jobs and income to local economies.

The proposed area is already a highly used recreational area for Columbia River residents. Due to its proximity to Columbia Falls, the Crystal Cedar project area is already widely used for mountain biking, hiking, off-road vehicles, cross-country skiing, and more. The new trails, proposed in the action plan, are to be used for non-motorized activities, promoting safe recreational activities.

The USDA, on behalf of the Flathead National Forest, released an environmental assessment of the area to the public in June 2019. The public was given a time period by which to comment and object to the assessment and the action plan. That time period ended in December 2019. The public expressed some concerns regarding effects on wildlife and trail construction plans, but also expressed their support of the project as a whole.

“The (Flathead National) Forest is committed to working along boundaries with private and other public lands to do this essential forest management work to increase our forest’s health and diversity as well as improve conditions when [a] wildfire occurs,” said Flathead National Forest supervisor Kurt Steele. “I am pleased to work collaboratively with so many members of the community to realize a project with both recreation and economic value while providing additional protection from wildfire threats.”