Swan Resource Management Study to be discussed
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News from the Lake County Conservation District
POLSON — Lake County Conservation District supervisors are launching the Swan Resource Management Study.
Jim Simpson, LCCD chair, LCCD directors and Dennis DeVries, SWMS project director, invite interested members of the public to the Polson Senior Citizens Center, 504 3rd Ave., from 5 to 7 p.m. on May 27. They’ll discuss the possibility of establishing a conservation forest initiative and solicit feedback from Lake County residents.
The forest selected for the study is in the Lake County portion of the Swan River Drainage on United States Forest Service land. In the very northeast corner of Lake County, the forest borders the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Wilderness Area and the Mission Wilderness Area.
The LCCD, by managing the forest, could reduce the chances of very hot forest fires, which can damage soils, cause mass erosion and increase the nutrient loading in our lakes.
Recreational use in the forest would remain the same or could be enhanced.
The LCCD proposes to manage the forest to reduce the volume of forest fuels, to support the agriculture community and to expand conservation projects throughout the district, such as ground water irrigation monitoring instruments, residential septic tank and drain field upgrades, dust control on private and county roads, wastewater treatment plants upgrades, culvert and bridge improvements, pasture management and riparian zone restoration.
The Montana legislature gave all conservation districts authority to manage U.S. projects that affect soil erosion and water management, if the U.S. Congress gives permission. First, Congress would need to allow LCCD to manage non-wilderness, United States Forest Service Land in Lake County, and then allow the LCCD to replace federal forest management laws, rules and regulations with State of Montana laws, rules and regulations.
Check the LCCD website at http://lakecountyconservationdistrict.org for more information.
