Bonners Ferry Local Guide including all of Boundary County Idaho

Fight likely over thinning plan near Bonners Ferry burn area

Tuesday, March 27, 2007; KAJ

The U-S Forest Service could face a battle from a conservation group over plans to thin parts of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests in north Idaho. The Myrtle Creek Valley has supplied Bonners Ferry's drinking water for 80 years. But in 2003, a fire swept through the valley, endangering the water supply. The Forest Service has announced plans to log about 21-hundred acres of the 27-thousand-acre watershed. The goal is to thin portions of the forest and make the next fire easier to stop and less damaging, thereby protecting the watershed. But a conservation group in Spokane considers the project illegal and plans to fight it in court. The Lands Council contends that half of the proposed logging would take place in roadless areas and grizzly bear habitat. The proposal calls for three timber sales to take place over the next three years. Forest supervisor Ranotta McNair expects the sign the final approval documents for the project later this spring. First, there will be a 30-day comment period for objections. - Full Story