Flathead Community Working Group

Swan Lake Working Group

Whitefish Working Group

The Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) is defined in collaboratively developed and locally-adopted Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) authorized under the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA). In the absence of a CWPP, the default parameters provided in HRFA (or any subsequent controlling legislation) apply.

HFRA's default definition of the WUI is "(i) an area extending ½ mile from the boundary of an at-risk community; (ii) an area within 1 ½ miles of the boundary of an at-risk community, including any land that (I) has a sustained steep slope that creates the potential for wildfire behavior endangering the at-risk community; (II) has a geographic feature that aids in creating an effective fire break, such as a road or ridge top; or (III) is in condition class 3, as documented by the Secretary [of Agriculture] in the project-specific environmental analysis; (iii) an area that is adjacent to an evacuation route for an at-risk community that the Secretary determines, in cooperation with the at-risk community, requires hazardous fuels reduction to provide safer evacuation from the at-risk community."

Areas of the Flathead National Forest which fall within the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) overlay any existing or subsequently defined Management Areas (MAs) in the Forest Plan.

The primary goal of management in the WUI is the protection of lives, homes, businesses, essential infrastructure (e.g., escape routes, municipal water supply structures, and major power and communication lines), with appropriate consideration for other community values at risk from wildfire. "Other" values may include critical wildlife habitat; important recreation and scenic areas; and landscapes of historical, economic, or cultural significance.

A major strategy for achieving the WUI management goal is creating and maintaining forest conditions that minimize the potential for a running crown fire and provide for effective direct and indirect fire suppression tactics in the event of a wildfire. To that end, stands within ½ mile of an at-risk community are managed to create and maintain conditions that would cause crown fires to drop to the ground and would keep ground fires from becoming crown fires. There are patches of trees distributed across locations that do not jeopardize communities, with variable patch sizes depending upon site-specific conditions.

If areas where federal lands are adjacent to homes, businesses, or other structures on private lands, fuel reduction is more intensive than in other areas. Because the most at-risk communities lie to the east and north of areas with heavy fuels loads, there is at least one-half mile of the WUI to the west and south of those areas managed intensively for fuel reduction. Beyond the areas of intensive management, fuel densities and canopy coverage gradually increase as the distance from the at-risk communities increases.

Fuel reduction in the WUI is designed and implemented to modify expected fire behavior with regard to existing forest types, structure and condition, and includes continued maintenance after initial treatments. For that purpose, it is at times necessary to modify and maintain forest stand structures, species composition and stand density parameters that are artificial with respect to existing and historic stand structures and their natural fire regimes. Preference for retention is given to larch and ponderosa pine (depending upon habitat type) and hardwood species, with non-preferred species being grand fir, alpine fir, spruce, and others having crowns to the ground.

While the WUI is included in the timber base, the primary WUI management objective is fire defensibility, not timber production to maximum potential. Well spaced larger trees are retained, often past their optimum growth period. Regeneration of WUI-compatible species occurs, but not at the levels normally planned in areas managed for timber. Soil disturbance is minimized.

Care is taken to retain a minimum of critical wildlife habitat components, such as snags and large woody debris, where such attributes would not hamper fire suppression activities -- that is, in areas that are not immediately adjacent to structures. The state slash abatement program guidelines that apply to private lands are also used on immediately adjacent Flathead National Forest WUI lands.

Some modification of existing (or subsequently enacted) standards set under the National Forest Management Act of 1976 may be necessary in the WUI to authorize necessary forest structure modification and fuel reduction treatments. For example, modifications such as suspending or lessening the reforestation, stocking and regeneration requirements for Suitable Timberlands in the WUI may be needed.

To maximize the positive effect of management on Flathead National Forest lands, state and local governments and private forest landowners in the WUI are encouraged and assisted when possible to modify and maintain forest conditions on non-federal lands in the WUI that will minimize running crown fire potential and provide for effective direct and indirect fire suppression tactics in the event of a wildfire.

Any wood products generated as a result of fuel reduction treatments are made available for commercial use. Commercial use of previously underutilized wood products and waste materials is encouraged and investment in new utilization processes is fostered. A variety of contracting opportunities are made available to attract diverse investment in labor, equipment and manufacturing infrastructure to carry out hazardous fuels reduction work and to maintain desirable WUI ecosystem conditions over time.

Forest Products Areas Desired Condition

Timber harvest and other vegetative manipulation are major tools through which Flathead National Forest landscapes are managed to restore and maintain plant communities and wildlife habitats within historic ranges of variability. Timber harvests are also used to achieve other specific desired management goals - environmental, economic (diversification, employment), and social (improving recreation sites, for instance). The focus of these activities is not on what is removed, but on the long-term end-result on the landscape, a resilient forest ecosystem with appropriate and well-functioning components, structures, processes, and flows.

Lands suitable for timber production normally provide a substantial portion of the wood products removed from the Flathead National Forest, although such products are also derived from other lands (as when trees are salvaged from "non-suitable" lands after wildfire or disease or insect infestations).

Permitted commercial gathering or extraction of other forest products (medicinals, botanicals, berries, mushrooms, etc.) occurs across all forest lands, except where specifically prohibited. Non-timber forest products are removed only in quantities and at locations where their removal will not adversely impact the viability or sustainability of those species, or other species dependent upon them. Non-commercial gathering or extraction does not require permits, but the amount, technique, and location of such gathering or extraction may be limited as necessary to protect the viability or sustainability of species.

A variety of silvicultural practices are used, selected as appropriate to address site-specific needs and conditions. Both even and uneven-aged management techniques are employed. Clearcut prescriptions are applied where necessary and appropriate to promote the regeneration and growth of species such as aspen, lodgepole pine, paper birch, western larch, western white pine, and other shade intolerant plants. A range of rotation ages, cutting cycles, and patterns based on natural disturbance events are used to calculate timber yields and manage landscapes to appear and function more naturally. Soil disturbance and soil compaction are minimized.

The existing (2004) permanent road structure should be sufficient (with the construction of occasional temporary roads) to support forest products needs. Best management practices are used for harvest-related road construction and maintenance to reduce those activities' effects on water quality.