Final Supplemental EIS released for Gold Butterfy Project

The Bitterroot National Forest released the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) for the Gold Butterfy Project, a proposed vegetation management and fuels reduction project in the Sapphire Mountains east of Corvallis. The project is located on the Stevensville and Darby Ranger Districts between St. Clair Creek to the south and Burnt Fork Creek to the north.

The FSEIS discusses the analysis for project-specifc Forest Plan amendments that align the management of old growth stands to the best available scientifc information. It also updates and clarifes information in the 2019 Gold Butterfy Final Environmental Impact Statement.

The Gold Butterfy Project is designed to:

• Improve forest resilience to natural disturbances like fre, insects, and diseases

• Reduce chronic sediment sources in the Willow Creek watershed

• Improve water quality and bull trout habitat

• Restore or improve key habitat including meadows and aspen

• Manage timber to provide forest products, jobs, and income to local communities

• Promote resilience in old growth and retain old growth status in all treatment units

About 90% of proposed treatment acres are within an area designated for insect and disease treatment because of dense pockets of dead and dying trees. The area is impacted by mountain pine beetle, Douglas-fr bark beetle, dwarf mistletoe, and western spruce budworm. The proposed treatments include commercial timber harvest, non-commercial thinning,

Montana Junior Duck Stamp Call for Entries

Student Artists, Art Educators, Mentors: The 2023 Montana Junior Duck Stamp Contest is receiving entries now up until March 24, 2023. Entries can be mailed or hand delivered to Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge at 4567 Wildfowl Lane, Stevensville, MT 59870 (406 777-5552). The art image should be of a live, native North American waterfowl species that measures 9” x 12” in a horizontal layout. Artwork can be drawn using ink, paint, pastel, crayon, or pencil. Entries should not be matted, drawn with a border, signed, initialed or lettered, computer-generated, photographs, or copies or tracings of published art. Entries placing frst through honorable mention will be publicly acknowledged and will receive ribbons and awards.

The Junior Duck Stamp Contest is an active participatory art and science program designed to teach wetland habitat and waterfowl conservation to students in kindergarten through high school enrolled in private, public or home schools. The curriculum (www.fws.gov/juniorduck/) guides students using wildlife observation principles to draw or paint a waterfowl species in appropriate habitat. Approximately 27,000 students from across the country enter the contest annually. The Best of Show from Montana will compete in the National Junior Duck Stamp Contest in Washington, D.C. and prescribed burning to improve forest health.

The Bitterroot Community Wildfre Protection Plan identifed most of the area as a ‘high priority’ for fuels reduction in the Wildland Urban Interface. More information about the Gold Butterfy Project, including the FSEIS is available online at https://www.fs.usda. gov/project/?project=51486 or at the Stevensville Ranger District and Bitterroot Forest Supervisor’s Ofce.

For additional information concerning the Gold Butterfy Project, contact Steve Brown,

Stevensville District Ranger at (406) 777-5461 or steve.brown2@usda.gov.

Looking for a new member of the family?

Call 363-5311 or visit our website at bitterroothumane.org

Tana is a 1/2

Blood Hound, 1/4

Anatolian, and 1/2

Great Pyrenees. She is an one year old escape artist,who is great with other dogs, cats and kids!

The Town of Stevensville has been working to improve both pedestrian and vehicular trafc safety on Main Street. Signs have been placed at crosswalks, along with yelow crossing fags for pedestrians to use when crossing. Additionally, the Town Council passed an ordinance prohibiting J-Turns along Main Street. A J-Turn is when a driver crosses the center line to park on the other side of street. Enforcement will begin next month to allow for an education and warning phase. There was already an ordinance in place that prohibits U-Turns at intersections along Main Streeet. Photo by Victoria Howell.