Seeley Lake Ranger District Update

SEELEY LAKE - Happy spring! Thanks to the Pathfinder for allowing me this opportunity to provide an update on what’s happening on the Seeley Lake Ranger District. I want to provide what I hope is valuable information as you plan your summer activities whether you are working or recreating as year-round or seasonal residents or Forest visitors.

Upcoming road work this summer will improve road-driving conditions and also provide some resource protection for local streams. Planned work includes road blading, road surface improvement, basic drainage maintenance and roadside brush removal. Travel will be allowed while the work is commencing but intermittent delays can be expected.

On the Cottonwood Lakes and Kozy Corner roads, potential closures may occur for up to three days on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during periods of heavy construction. Detours will be necessary to access the Lodgepole trailhead, Little Shanley/Black Canyon loop, Monture Campground and trailhead. These activities may impact some of your access and we will share updated information early and throughout the summer to remind folks to plan for delays or look for alternate routes when it comes to travel on National Forest roads. We will provide as much lead-time as possible using the Pathfinder, the Seeley Lake Ranger District webpage, as well as Lolo National Forest Facebook page.

The road work will occur along Morrell Lookout #4365, Cottonwood Lakes #477, Kozy Corner #9976, Monture #89, and McCabe #5401. Morrell Lookout road work will provide safer access to the lookout and communication equipment as well as improve access for Forest visitors looking to visit a historic lookout or for a scenic motorized recreation experience.

The main Cottonwood Lakes road from Morrell Lookout road to Monture Creek and including Kozy Corner road will improve road drivability and reduce environmental impacts through improved drainage. Monture and McCabe roads will also see a minor facelift to improve and protect the infrastructure investment. Road work is anticipated to begin May 8 and could last through the summer.

Many of you have inquired about the Forest Service role in the proposed gravel pit in Section 31. As the road manager with jurisdiction over the Cottonwood Lakes road #477, we are responding to a proposal for potential commercial hauling on Cottonwood Lakes Road #477 from the proposed gravel pit west to Highway 83 North.

Because the proposed gravel pit proponent holds a legal easement to use the road, our role is to work with them and our engineers to develop an Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Plan. The O&M plan will include road maintenance and traffic control measures commensurate with their use and would be finalized once the gravel pit is approved through the State Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) processes.

As reported in a recent Pathfinder article, we anticipate making a final decision on the Center Horse Landscape Restoration project by the end of the summer. The project includes vegetation management (e.g., commercial harvest, non-commercial tree cutting, prescribed burning and weed treatments); road treatments (e.g., decommissioning, storage, maintenance and re-routing segments away from sensitive riparian areas); watershed improvements (e.g., culvert replacements and removals); and soil restoration activities (e.g., weed treatments, landing and skid trail rehabilitation and shrub and tree planting).

In order to prepare for the work that will occur, we will have crews in the field completing unit layout and marking and completing any survey and design needs. If you see white trucks out and about and behind locked gates, these are Forest Service employees doing their job to get the project ready to implement.

We are also gearing up to implement our spring and fall prescribed burning program. We recently filled a full time assistant Fire Management Officer in the fuels arena who, along with our fire and district organization, will assist us in planning and implementing prescribed fire prescriptions in project areas. This spring and fall, we will be using fire to continue restoration work in the Colt Summit, Auggie and Horseshoe West project areas. By the time you read this, we hope to have completed a burn in the Horseshoe Hills. Depending on the weather window and our approval for smoke clearance, you will likely see smoke in the Clearwater drainage.

In the recreation arena, we are busily preparing for the upcoming summer season. Our developed campgrounds will be opening during Memorial Day weekend as usual. Recreation folks are turning on water systems, removing hazard trees and conducting general maintenance. We have a suite of volunteer campground hosts serving you and other Forest visitors who visit our campgrounds.

One of our biggest challenges this year is that our Big Larch boat launch is in need of replacement. If you are a boater on Seeley Lake, you are probably aware that we had to close one side of our boat launch last summer during low water. The boat launch is becoming increasingly unsafe to use and we are looking for recommendations from our engineers on what level of use would be wise and are looking for adequate funding to replace the current boat launch.

Alternate boat launches are available but not all accommodate large boats like Big Larch. While looking for long-term solutions for replacement we are asking for Forest visitors to be patient as we may only have one lane open over the summer.

Along with the boat launch replacement project, we have been part of the conversation with the new Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks rules relative to Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS). We have been coordinating with them and the local work group led by the Clearwater Resource Council (CRC), and other agency partners, to develop protocols and/or procedures on AIS prevention.

Our role in the AIS is that we provide access to the lakes that FWP manages. We support the goal of preventing AIS which would have dire consequences not only for the economic vitality of the Seeley Lake and tourism industry but also for the local community enjoyment and the natural lake environment.

We are continuing to participate in the Trails Project that CRC is leading. This process is not led by us but will provide information long-term to help us understand community priorities of where and for what type of use we could make investments in maintenance or construction based on the trail planning effort and the results of their work. Maps and other information of our current trail system, which includes 263 miles of non-motorized pedestrian and horse trails and 126 miles in the Scapegoat Wilderness miles (summer only), can be obtained at the Seeley Lake Ranger Station. If you come after hours, there is a kiosk with handouts and a white board posted outside that has current information on trail conditions.

I also wanted to alert folks to another exiting project. Concerns have been expressed by the public that Gus, the Grand Champion Western Larch, is receiving too much soil compaction and potentially suffering from being ‘loved to death’.

An Eagle Scout has agreed to take on a project that includes a plan and design for a boardwalk around the base of Gus. This will still allow access to Gus for hugs and picture taking and be more effective than options such as fencing. So next time you take your visitors to hug Gus, you may see this project occurring.

Lastly, a shout-out to our partners! We greatly appreciate the sincere interest and passion for the work we do and the mutual goals we share. We continue to strive to build relationships in our local community within our reduced budget and capacity levels to best meet our mission to serve the American public which is “to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations”.

For more information, please call the Seeley Lake Ranger Station at 677-2233, check the Seeley Lake District webpage, Lolo Forest Facebook or simply drop in at the Ranger Station! We have a beautiful front office with a collection of gift items for purchase as well as maps and firewood permits. We have both permanent and seasonal employees that work across many disciplines including recreation, lands, wildlife, fire suppression and fuel and vegetation management. All of these employees work hard to improve the services and resources on the Seeley Lake Ranger District year-round. We all hope you enjoy the summer and enjoy your National Forest lands!

To our health, Rachel Feigley