Helena National Forest officials and a local environmental group have reached a compromise over a timber sale near Lincoln, which reduces the amount to be logged by about 85 percent.

The new agreement calls for 4 million board feet of timber to be logged from the mountainsides that burned two years ago during the Snow/Talon wildfires, instead of the almost 27 million board feet the Lincoln Ranger District initially had offered for sale.

“It’s a sale we can live with and they’re still getting to cut 4 million board feet, which is a substantial amount by itself,” said Michael Garrity, executive director for the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. “We have a new (Helena National Forest) supervisor who worked things out with us, and we think this gets everybody off to a good start.

“We’re glad we could talk and reach a compromise without going to court.”

Kevin Riordan, who took over the helm of the Helena forest in July, said economics were the main reason to reduce the size of the timber sale, but added that lessening the threat of a lawsuit also played into his decision.

“We had made an offering earlier in the summer and we didn’t get any bidders,” Riordan said. “We asked why, and (loggers) told us it was a combination of the cost of the helicopter logging and that the material had deteriorated.

 
“It seemed to be smart to step back and take a look at where we had some room to make changes.”

The original project called for logging 2,763 of the 37,700 acres that burned northeast of Lincoln in 2003. However, three environmental groups — Garrity’s Alliance, the Native Ecosystems Council and the Ecology Center — claimed the work would adversely impact bull trout, grizzly bears and lynx, all protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and filed a formal “notice of intent to sue” the Helena National Forest over the project.

One of their main concerns were potential impacts to bull trout from the estimated 5,200 logging trucks that could pass within a few feet of Copper Creek, where several high-profile efforts were made to restore and protect bull trout habitat.

Then-acting Forest Supervisor Jane Kollmeyer said considerable effort had been made to mitigate those concerns, but the environmental groups felt it wasn’t adequate.

“But now that they’ve cut the volume down so much, there will be much less harm to the bull trout … from repeated trips by logging trucks on the nearby road,” Garrity said.

The environmental groups also were concerned the timber sale would violate the ESA by increasing the open density of the forest rather than reducing it as required under the Act, which could negatively affect the grizzly sow and cubs living in the area.

In response, all of the portions of the sale that could have negatively harmed the bears were dropped, Garrity said.

Riordan said they had bid openings on the new project last Friday, and expect to sign a contract next week. Work will get under way shortly after that.