Comments needed on Westside Restoration Project near Bonners

By Reader Staff

The Idaho Panhandle National Forests and Bureau of Land Management are inviting comments on the draft Environmental Assessment for a forest management project proposed near Bonners Ferry.

The Westside Restoration Project is approximately 60,000 acres and is located within Boundary County, encompassing the Myrtle, Snow and Caribou Creek watersheds, and Dodge Peak and White Mountain areas. Proposed restoration work includes timber harvest, prescribed fire and precommercial thinning for fuels reduction and forest health in the wildland-urban interface. 

Developed in collaboration with the Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative, the proposed activities would accomplish objectives of the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program as well as improvements for wildlife, recreation, aquatics and other resources. The restoration efforts involve working with other landowners, the local community and organizations, agency partners and the public, in an all-lands approach to forest restoration with an emphasis on these watersheds.

Find the Westside Restoration Project Draft Environmental Assessment is posted on the Idaho Panhandle National Forests website: fs.usda.gov/project/?project=56888.

USFS and BLM officials said comments specific to the project and the analysis are valuable. Please comment by Jan. 4, 2021 by submitting electronically to: comments-northern-idpanhandle-bonners-ferry@usda.gov. Put the name of the project in the subject line and please include your name and mailing address. To submit hardcopy comments, please mail them to: Bonners Ferry Ranger District, Attn: Jennifer Anderson, 6286 Main St., Bonners Ferry, ID 83805.

For more information about this project, contact Jennifer Anderson, team leader, at 208-267-6749, or to subscribe to emailed project updates, click the “Get Connected,” tab and “Subscribe to Email Updates” on the project website.