Mid-Swan Restoration, building permit tools and Holland Lake dominate discussion

SWAN VALLEY - US Forest Service and Missoula County Projects Department representatives presented on the Mid-Swan Restoration Project and the new county tool for building permits at the Swan Valley Community Council meeting Oct. 15. Chair Ken Donovan also provided information regarding the Holland Lake Day Use agreement that is being negotiated between the US Forest Service and Swan Valley Community Foundation.

Team leader of the US Forest Service Mid-Swan Restoration and Wildland Urban Interface Project Rachel Feigley presented a brief description of the project.

The project encompasses 174,000 acres from Elk Creek in the southern end of the Swan Valley north to Swan Lake and from rim to rim of the Missions across to the Swan Front. According to Feigley, the project’s goals are to, “Restore and maintain aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity toward a more resilient landscape and to reduce fire risk in the WUI.” The project is scheduled to take 15 years to complete.

Feigley said that the idea of the project is to sustain the landscape in light of climate change. Plans include harvesting 41,000 acres of timber and treating 39,000 acres of WUI as well as restoring up to 135,000 additional acres. There are plans for decommissioning 49 miles of roads and potentially adding 39 miles of new more efficient roads to achieve objectives.

The work on the project area will reduce ladder fuels to prevent wildfires from crowning and retain large ponderosa pine and Douglas fir that are more fire resistant.

Current risks to aquatic life will be addressed at 261 steam crossings using a method for designing and building road-stream crossings intended to permit free and unrestricted movements of any aquatic species along with the removal of 4 existing fish migration barriers.

Feigley said that the Forest Service has taken an all-land approach to the project. They are able to work across boundaries with the state and the counties involved to work on the project at the same time. Feigley responded to several questions from those in attendance.

Will local jobs be created from this project? Local loggers can be hired for the timber thinning part of the project. The suggestion to supply timber to local mills was a point brought up in the scoping period which began last October.

Do you anticipate litigation on this project? It will be hard on the economy here if there are injunctions put on the sales. Yes, that is a good point. We do anticipate litigation and it is a real concern. It impacts the cost of the project also.

Does the Forest Service plan to have a long period of time of continuous growth and harvest of timber as is done in Europe? That is not the vision of this project. The vision is to retain habitat, fisheries and maintain ecosystems that are fire resistant. However, a sustainable forest is part of it.

Feigley said that comments are always welcome. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement will be completed in November or December 2019. Once it is released, there will be a 45 day comment period.

The final Environment Impact Statement and the draft Record of Decision is tentatively set for April of 2020, with a comment period in May of 2020.The Record of Decision is tentatively set for June 2020.

For more information visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=54853 or contact Feigley at 406-677-4158 or Program Specialist Micah Heiser at 406-329-3090

Missoula County Project Manager Gayl Hann told those in attendance about the new Missoula County website designed to help homeowners with their building permits.

She said in the past applicants had to go to each department’s page to look for information. Now the information is all together with help and steps needed to get the final permits.

Homeowners can come to the public works office in Missoula, apply online, mail the application or go to the satellite office in Seeley Lake which is open from 9:30-11:30 a.m. and 1:30-3:30 p.m. the second and fourth Thursdays of the month.

Answers to questions about the permit applications can be found by going to Missoula County Property Fast Facts which has information on individual properties. The legal description, fire district, floodplain, permits on the property, schools, wells and septic systems are found there. Visit http://www.missoulacounty.build or email Hann at ghann@missoulacounty.us

Hann answered questions from those in attendance.

I got a letter today from a local church asking for help with the large shortfall they have experienced from costs incurred from a required state permit they were not aware they needed. Do you have any suggestions as to how to avoid this surprise? Our goal is to avoid these surprises and streamline the process so all departments including the state meet with the homeowner and have all the requirements laid out for project.

Are the costs displayed online? Yes, there is a wealth of information that covers fees, resources, state regulations and steps in each department to follow to arrive at the building permits.

How long a wait is it to get a building permit? It averages 14.1 days start to finish. It is much shorter because the departments work together at the same time during the review process. There are waivers available for pouring concrete if time is of the essence. However, it is at the homeowner’s risk in case a problem is discovered.

Donovan, as a representative of the Swan Valley Community Foundation, met with Swan District Ranger Chris Dowling and Flathead National Forest supervisor Chip Weber about the 2020 season at the Holland Lake Day Use Area Fee.

There are two proposals on the table for the US Forest Service to consider. The first would require no permits for anyone using the day use area. The lost revenue for the concessionaires would be made up in added fees to the camping site.

The second proposal would be that the Foundation will be issued 200 permits for residents of the Swan to use. The foundation would pay an undisclosed amount to the Forest Service for lost revenue. The decision will be finalized soon and the Foundation and the concessionaires will be informed of the decision.

Council Vice-President Henry Westra handed his resignation letter to the council and explained that he is leaving the Swan Valley in the very near future. Donovan said that they needed to find willing Missoula County residents to apply for the position. The Council will then make a recommendation to the Missoula County Commissioners who will appoint someone to fill the remaining two and a half years in Westra’s term. Anyone interested in serving on the Council should contact Donovan at 754- 2614 or 754-5647.

In other business, Donovan passed on some information that he received from Kvande Anderson who has been trying to put a welcome to the Swan Valley sign up for several years. Anderson and his daughter have the sign made, filled out county paperwork and received permission to put the sign on the Gordon ranch property. The Department of Transportation has now informed them that a private citizen cannot apply to the DOT to have the sign in place, it must be a non-profit entity. If there is a non-profit in the Valley that would be willing to fill this need, please contact Donovan, 754-2614.

The next SVCC meeting will be held Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. at the Swan Valley Community Hall.