The Flathead National Forest approved the 2,307-acre Piper Creek Project in Montana’s Swan Valley, allowing work to begin immediately. Sarah Canepa signed the decision Oct. 16, about six months after the project was first proposed.

The project is the first drainage-specific effort planned after the Forest Service withdrew the approximately 174,000-acre Mid-Swan Landscape Restoration and Wildland Urban Interface Project in April.

Project Details

The approval authorizes commercial logging on 1,415 acres and non-commercial treatment on another 892 acres. The non-commercial work includes prescribed burning and thinning intended to address insect infestation, disease and wildfire risk.

Crews will use 23 miles of existing National Forest roads. The project also includes construction of 3.5 miles of temporary road, which will be rehabilitated after the work is completed.

Canepa determined that a categorical exclusion applies and that no extraordinary circumstances are present. That decision allows the Forest Service to proceed without preparing an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.

The site is below the 3,000-acre limit for the categorical exclusion and does not overlap designated wilderness. The project was approved under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act and an emergency situation determination.

Anthony Botello authorized the project through the emergency determination system on Sept. 17. The Forest Service said formal consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is still required.

The project’s treatment area is 96% within acres designated under a 2025 emergency determination announced by Brooke Rollins. That determination established a minimum requirement that at least half of a project area fall within designated acres outlined in a 112 million-acre memo.

Next Swan Valley Projects

The Forest Service plans additional watershed-specific projects in the Swan Valley. The Quill Pig Project, announced Oct. 20, proposes vegetation treatment near Swan Lake across 3,921 acres, including almost 3,300 acres of proposed commercial logging.

Unlike Piper Creek, Quill Pig will undergo an environmental assessment. Public comment on that proposal is open through Nov. 3.

Botello said the Forest Service expects four to five projects to follow Piper Creek and Quill Pig. “There’s nothing piecemeal about it,” he said.

The withdrawn Mid-Swan project originated with a notice of intent issued in October 2018. The initial plan covered 274,000 acres, while a 2021 draft record of decision selected 174,205 acres for treatment.

Canepa said she was looking forward to seeing vegetation-management work begin within the Piper Creek project.