Myrtle Creek will test new Healthy Forests law

BONNERS FERRY, Idaho – The nation’s newest, most powerful forest management tool will be used soon on a narrow valley not far from the Canadian border.

A wildfire burned about 13 percent of the Myrtle Creek valley nearly a year ago. U.S. Forest Service officials announced Monday they hope to protect the surviving forest from catastrophic wildfires by using sweeping new provisions in the Healthy Forests Restoration Act.

It will be one of the first major tests of the law in the Inland Northwest, Bonners Ferry district ranger Mike Herrin said during a morning tour through the valley. The law allows the agency to fast-track projects meant to protect communities from fire danger.

“It’s very much more streamlined,” Herrin said. “But the big thing is collaboration.”

The Healthy Forests law gives priority to projects with the most community support, Herrin said. The Myrtle Creek valley has been a top concern of state, local and tribal officials because it supplies drinking water for many nearby residents.

Herrin hopes work will be under way in the forest within a year. The fuels-reduction project might involve a major commercial timber harvest or it could be as minor as thinning narrow bands of the forest. Monday’s field trip, which included about 35 government officials and local residents, was part of the planning process.

Patty Perry, administrative director for the Kootenai Tribe, said this type of partnership reflects a major change on the part of the Forest Service. “Whatever happens, it’ll be reflective of this community’s desires. … This is an opportunity to work with the Forest Service during the front end of the project, versus responding on the back end.”

Some environmental groups are concerned, however, that science and public participation could be sacrificed for speed. The Healthy Forests law does not allow agency decisions to be appealed and the shorter time frame cuts down on public participation, said Rein Atteman, with the Lands Council of Spokane.

“It’s too fast. They’re not going to be looking at (projects) with as much detail,” he said.

A recent federal court decision should serve as a yellow light for the Forest Service, Atteman said. Earlier this month, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out a major Forest Service project, the Iron Honey timber sale, planned for the Little North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River. The court accused the agency of using “stale” data in its planning process and of not properly analyzing the cumulative impacts of previous logging projects.

Forest Service silviculturist Pat Behrens said Myrtle Creek is ripe for another damaging wildfire and needs quick attention. About 3,600 acres in the lower stretches of the valley burned last September after a human-caused fire. Much of the remaining forest has been untouched by fires for nearly 80 years. The potential for a damaging fire rises each year, Behrens said.

“Something’s going to happen,” he said. “It’s going to be pretty drastic.”

Although a heavy rainfall in July caused a series of minor landslides in the burned portions of the forest, Myrtle Creek runs clear today. Bonners Ferry Mayor Darrell Kerby worries that another fire could forever damage the town’s water supply. Kerby is a strong supporter for a fuels-reduction project.

“We’re concerned about potable, clean drinking water,” he said.

Bonners Ferry resident and Idaho Conservation League member John O’Connor is more cautious in his support for using the Healthy Forests law to address the problems of the Myrtle Creek Valley. “Everybody wants to see it work,” he said. “Yes, there is too much gridlock and something needs to be done, but I’m not sure the Healthy Forests Restoration Act is the way to go about it. … If this offers shortcuts that keep people out of the loop, I’m very leery about that.”

O’Connor has been involved in the planning process as a member of the Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative, which is a local group formed two years ago to foster cooperation between government agencies on regional wildlife and natural resource issues. The group has been invited to take a lead role in working with the Forest Service to protect Myrtle Creek. O’Connor said he would like to see the same amount of collaboration on all major Forest Service projects.

Herrin, the district ranger, hopes to present a proposed plan for the valley to the public by November. At least one public hearing will be offered, he said, and all the required federal environmental protection laws will be followed. Work should begin by the end of next summer, he said.

“We’re not going to fireproof it,” Herrin said. “We’re going to have fire in there. But we can reduce the risk.”