The Flathead National Forest is proposing a non-motorized trail network and logging and fuel reduction project north of Columbia Falls.
The Crystal Cedar Project proposal is based on feedback the Forest received last year from about 70 local landowners and interested parties. It covers Teakettle Mountain, Blankenship Road, Crystal Creek, Cedar Flats and Spoon Lake.
The proposal calls for commercially harvesting about 2,600 acres and another 1,200 acres of non-commercial harvest, mostly in the wildland-urban interface. The treatment would include prescribed burns over the next several years.
The project would add about 24.5 miles of new, non-motorized trails for hikers, bikers and horses, with a short all-terrain vehicle trail that would access an existing motorized trail network.
The Flathead National Forest will host an open house about the proposed Crystal Cedar Project on Tuesday, October 30 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Teakettle Community Room in Columbia Falls.
A public open house to provide further information about this project will occur on Tuesday, October 30, 2018, from 6 - 8 p.m. at the Teakettle Community Room (235 Nucleus Avenue, Columbia Falls, MT 59912). The Forest Service will present a brief overview of the project at 6 p.m. and resource specialists will be available to answer questions about the project.
