Service also conducts aerial monitoring flights that are similar to SCA’s in intent, and were able to accomplish a single monitoring flight in early January this year.

Idaho Department of Fish and Game also had difficulty in conducting their annual winter aerial caribou census because of the unfa-vorable weather conditions. Thus a com-plete winter census for caribou was not fully accomplished this year, but the indications are that the number of caribou within our Selkirk Ecosystem is lower than last year and no caribou were located within the United

f e a t u r e s

FEATUrED phoTo

SightLines is the newsletter of the

Selkirk Conservation Alliance

(SCA), a non-profit corporation

providing environmental

oversight and public information

for the Inland Northwest.

Selkirk Conservation Alliancep.o. Box 1809priest river, ID 83856

NoN proFIT orG

U.S. poSTAGE

pAID

prIEST rIVEr, ID

pErMIT No. 27

www.scawild.orgphone: 208-448-1110

sca@scawild.org

Aerial Monitoring: Four Fruitful FlightsBy TIM lAySEr, SCA wIlDlIFE BIoloGIST

SCA ‘merCh’mAkeS greAtgiftS. see page 3 to orderstocking stuff

-from the director

-fish tales: granite creek

-priest lake history;-wildlife cameras

-bear box grant;-water report; wag

-favorite places;-visit the tyee ii

-seniors hike selkirks;-timber sales report

245678

SightlineSN e w s l e t t e r o f t h e S e l k i r k C o n s e r v a t i o n A l l i a n c ew w w. s c a w i l d . o r g F a l l 2 0 11

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

with generous contribu-tions from the Kalispell Tribe, the Defenders of wildlife, the Idaho

Conservation league and Advocates for the west, the Selkirk Conserva-tion Alliance was able to continue our aerial monitoring efforts again this past winter. The aerial monitor-ing program is designed to monitor snowmobile user compliance with designated snowmobile closure areas and to document key wildlife species such as mountain caribou, wolf, wolverine and grizzly bear. other wildlife species such as mountain goat and moose locations are also noted when encountered.

weather conditions, such as cloud cover, high winds and the never ending barrage of snowstorms, limited the number of flights that were possible this past winter. Although weather conditions did allow for four monitor-ing flights, the number of flights fell short of the seven flights that were accomplished the previous winter. This year’s monitoring flights were conducted in late January, early Febru-ary, late April and early May. The U.S. Forest

1945 ‘shipwreck,’ north priest(see pg. 7 / photo by eleanor jones)

sca gathers aerial evidence: snowmobile and tracks in trapper closure.

2 Sightlines • Fall 2011

Board of Directors

Mark KabushChair

Sharon Sorby

Steve Booth

Bob Harwood

Karin Overbeck

Randy Curless

SCA StaffMark Sprengel

Executive Director

Tim LayserWildlife Biologist

Jerry BoggsHydropower Biologist

Liz SedlerForest Programs Coordinator

Mikki RavenscroftOffice Manager

Amy DanielsHighway Program

Kate DrumWashington Highway Program

Sarah Stoner, LayoutSwordfern Wordsmithing, Ink.

sarah.stoner@earthlink.net

Petroglyph Printing509-447-2590

A MeSSAge FROM THe DiReCTOR

For more in-depth articles,photographs and links, go to our website www.scawild.org

on october 31st, halloween, global human population reached the seven billion mark... which to my mind makes this halloween the

scariest ever.

That night I listened on the radio as one proponent of population growth stated that no one should be concerned since “if all the peo-ple on the earth were to gather in one spot

for a group photo they would fit in an area the size of los Angeles.” of course this observa-tion misses the point since the problem is not how many square feet mankind physically occupies, but rather, how big of an impact hu-mans and their activities are having on the planet. whether it be fast-eroding arable top-soil, declining aquifers, global climate change, displacement of native vegetation by invasive plants, or extinctions/extirpations of wildlife species through loss of functional habitat, it is obvious to all but the most fervid cornucopi-ans that an ever-expanding human population is detrimentally impacting the planet.

of course proponents of infinite growth on this finite sphere are loathe to ac-

knowledge any limits... either on the supply of natural resources or the number of hu-man beings that can sustainably occupy the planet. Most have an almost mystical faith in human “ingenuity” as a means of escaping the consequences of our species’ profligate ways. Thinking seven generations in the future simply does not resonate.

I don’t pretend to know what the earth’s “carrying capacity” is but I strongly suspect

the ready availability of finite fossil fuels has enabled mankind to temporarily surpass that number. (The much-touted “green revolution” for example is wholly dependent upon fossil fuels for the production of fertilizers, herbi-cides, and pesticides, as well as the cultiva-tion and transport of crops.) So is this cause for despair? It seems reasonable that evolution in the physical realm may indicate the possibility of evolution in the realm of consciousness as well. If so, our species must, as Thoreau advised, begin to live more deliberately. The fate of the earth and its plants and animals must become our first order of ‘business.” This means addressing the impact of an ex-panding human population on the planet.

perhaps, when growth in conscious-ness becomes more important

than growth of Gross National product, we may begin to understand that true “prog-ress” is qualitative... not quantitative.

Mark SprengelExecutive Director, SCAsprengel@scawild.org

perhaps, when growth

in consciousness becomes

more important than growth of

Gross National product,

we may begin to

understand that true

“progress” is qualitative...

not quantitative.

Selkirk Conservation Alliance • www.scawild.org 3

States portion of the ecosystem. hopefully the weather next winter will cooperate and allow for more of our monitoring flights to be conducted and for a complete comprehensive survey to determine an accurate number of caribou in our population and also their win-tering locations. our winter survey also failed to locate any caribou within the U.S. side of the ecosystem.

The moni-toring flights docu-ment-ed numer-ous snow-mobile

use viola-tions within many

of the traditional snowmobile use areas such Trapper Creek, Bunchgrass Meadows, Continental Mountain and the pack river. The monitoring flights that were conducted in April and May were well after the focal snowmobile use season, but because of the abundant snow that had occurred during the winter and the late and relatively cool spring, we did document snowmobile use several times within the designated closures. These snowmobile closures are not only intended to provide a secure environment for caribou but also after the beginning of April provide a secure environment for grizzly bears as they emerge from the winter den.

Again this winter we located several areas where wolves were utilizing based on the observation of tracks and on one occasion observed a group of 12 to 14 wolves as they busied themselves trying to make lunch of an unfortunate moose. we also located track sets of wolverine on two of our flights. we plan to continue aerial monitoring flights this coming winter, providing funding becomes available.

Tim Layser worked for the U.S. Forest Service for more than 30 years and was the Priest Lake Ranger District wildlife biologist for the past 20 years. layser@scawild.org

J o i n t h e S C A

Support the Selkirk Conservation Alliance with Your Membership!

Our newsletter, funded entirely by member contributions, keeps you informed of natural resources issues within the Inland Northwest, and offers regular updates on the efforts of the SCA to promote environmental excellence. Now is the time to give to the environment that sustains us all.

Make a contribution and keep SightLines coming regularly. Dues and donations are tax-deductible.

r Enroll or Renew Me as a member of the SCA. Enclosed are my dues.

Individual Family Regular r $30 r $35 Limited Income r $15 r $20 (living lightly) SCA bull trout t-shirt

To help more, I’m enclosing an additional contribution: r $10 r $25 r $50 r $100 r $500 r other _____

Include the following SCA merchandise: r SCA mug #____ $15 each + $5 shipping/handling r SCA bear t-shirt (kids) #____ $12.50 each +$3 S&H / Size ___ r SCA bull trout t-shirt #___ $12.50 each +$3 S&H / Size ____

Name Email Winter address (dates) ___/___ /___ to ___/___/___ phone: Summer address (dates) ___/___ /___ to ___/___/___ phone

To pay by credit card, please include type, number, expiration date and three digit security code on back. Call the SCA Office with any questions. 208-448-1110

Mail to: SELKIRK CONSERVATION ALLIANCEPO BOX 1809 PRIEST RIVER, IDAHO 83856

AERIAL MONITORING,CoNTINUED FroM pAGE 1

one of sca’s four winter aerial flights this winter: wolf tracks in the selkirk ecosystem.

SCA mug and kids t-shirt

4 Sightlines • Fall 2011

Some fly fishermen say that catching a fish is a secondary pleasure and not a necessary ingredient for having a good

day a-stream...that just being part of a beautiful stretch of water is reward enough. I do not share this view, although the stretch of Granite Creek from the concrete bridge north of Nord-man to the bridge at the Tango Creek road is truly beautiful. In the 1950s and 60s, stepping into the clear water of the creek on a hot August day and wading downstream among the huge old growth cedars, hemlocks and white pines was almost enough. But I always caught fish, introduced eastern brook trout or native bull trout encountered in late August when they entered the creek to spawn. In those days Granite Creek was closed to fishing from Sep-tember to the end of June to allow the mature cutthroats to spawn and leave the creek to return safely to priest lake. The same for the char, or bull trout, which ascended after the creek was closed to fishing. The fishing regula-tions have changed over the years but are now the worst in my memory. The creek is open year round and barbed hooks and bait are allowed although retaining cutts and bull trout is illegal. The brook trout limit is 25 fish per day. Idaho Fish and Game has finally con-cluded that introducing them was a bad idea since they hybridize with bull trout and compete with cutthroat for food. The concept that a cutt or bully can be safely released after swallowing a worm

on a barbed hook is ludicrous. There are diminished numbers of both species now due to the environmental degreda-tion of traditional spawning grounds and the introduction of lake trout into priest lake. poaching surely had a negative effect as well.

one hot day in August 1959, my tall, dark and handsome brother Mike

and I were fishing Granite Creek. My bucktail coachman was jauntily floating a riffled section about four or five feet

deep when I saw most of what I thought was creek bottom rise up and inhale my fly. I was so astonished that I didn’t strike to set the hook. had I done so, my three poind test leader would have surely parted. Instead, he hooked himself. Mike, on the other side of the creek heard my screams and followed along as I ran downstream chasing the fish and slipping and falling on the unforgiving rocks. The fish made its last stand in a large pool by a boulder with one slanted and cupped side which I saw as an opportunity. I slid him onto the slanted rock and, without further

prompting, Mike dove into the icy water, grabbed the fish firmly and swam to my side of the creek. we gloated, but not for long. My uncle, Bud Jarrett, came by fly fishing in his house slip-pers dancing over the sheen side rocks. “look what we got!” I said, holding up the large fish. looking briefly over his shoulder between casts, Bud said, “I always break the big ones right off, they’re too hard to get in”, and he con-tinued on by. I suppose he was right, considering I was bruised and bleeding

from my falls and Mike was shivering and wet.

we took our prize into the the Nordman Store and

put it onto the butchers scale. The bar emptied and stood watching. The brook trout weighed six pounds seven ounces. “where dya get it?” someone asked. Now that’s a question few fisher-men want to answer truth-fully, but I did, since I knew they wouldn’t believe me.

“Granite Creek.” They said nothing, just returned to their bar stools, as I knew they would. I haven’t fished Granite Creek in years, since it is a younger man’s stream, but I watch it from time to time for rise-forms and see few. There are efforts being made to help the westslope cutthroat and bull trout to survive and I will speak to those in part 2 of Granite Creek in the next “Sightlines.”

If any Sightline readers have fished Granite Creek lately, I would love to

hear their stories. Call me at (208) 443-2532, or email to kabush@bmi.net.

Contact Mark Kabush,SCA Board Chair, at kabush@bmi.net

FISH TALESGranite Creek: “The Big One” [Part I]By MArK KABUSh, SCA BoArD ChAIr

“So I speak for the fish:

those that are native to the region,

and those that are not.”

Mark Kabush

Fish Tales continues...

A new SightLines column.

proof positive of Mark’s fish tale: a photo of the actual fish cap-tured from granite creek, 1959.

Selkirk Conservation Alliance • www.scawild.org 5

Candid Camera Continues: 2011 Wildlife Survey ResultsBy TIM lAySEr, SCA wIlDlIFE BIoloGIST

Making the Past Present: 1890 Surveyors Arrive at Priest LakeBy STEVE BooTh, SCA BoArD MEMBEr

The Selkirk Conservation Alliance has been working closely with washington Department of Fish and wildlife to

survey wildlife within the Selkirk Mountains in northeastern washington State.

Four remote-trigger cameras were ran-domly deployed within the survey area. The cameras were set up in the late

May and remained in place until early oc-tober. The was to document rare or unique wildlife species. Camera locations were moved several times but always remained within the survey area.

Cameras captured a variety of wildlife spe-cies including deer, elk, moose, cougar, black bear, coyote, bobcat and wolf.

Contact Tim Layser at layser@scawild.org

below: sow black bear and cub photographed with remote camera along hickman ridge.

above left: lone wolf photographed with remote camera. this animal is believed to be a young wolf dispersing from the nearby Diamond pack.

Very little information about priest lake is available prior to the 1890s but in a recent find, the narration of

an American boundary survey crew provides us with some very early observations.

The British and Americans signed a treaty in 1846 that established the 49th parallel as the boundary be-tween the two nations. It wasn’t until 1860 that the 49th parallel was actu-ally surveyed. Until then, no one really knew where it was.

In approximately 1860, two survey

crews were at work surveying the paral-lel; one from the east and one from the west. The crew from the west is the one that reached the priest lake area.

The survey crews were made up of both American and British surveyors working together. As they moved from west to east, they were supplied from the nearest drain-age from the south. The supply lines from the south con-nected to the nearest steamboat port; in our area that would have been Fort walla walla. The British surveyors used the same supply lines because there were no easy routes through the country north of the 49th parallel, at least not in our area. The supply point to the west of priest lake was at what is now Marcus, washington and for our immediate location, it was a Seneacquoteen, near present day laclede, Idaho on the pend ‘oreille river.

The British boundary commission had several log cabins on the

south side of the river at the mouth of hoodoo creek; these were used as storage facilities. There was a picture taken at the mouth of hoodoo Creek that shows a Kootenai tee pee and sturgeon nosed canoe. In the back-ground you can see the faint outline of what appear to be the British stor-age cabins. The American facilities were on the north side of the river at riley Creek. For some reason they

kept separate facilities but their supply routes from walla walla were the same.

From Seneac-quoteen, they could easily ac-cess the parallel by traveling up the Kootenai or pend ‘oreille valleys. They surveyed the par-allel between the valleys but the Americans must have wondered what lay south of the parallel and between the two.

A portion of the American survey crew was ordered

to go in and survey the area and that is where our story begins.

To be continued next issue...

Steve Booth is a former teacher, coach, historian, and forest service firefighter. He is a longtime resident of Priest Lake and has owned his small construction business for 28 years. Steve has been on SCA’s board since 2002.

early 1900s american surveyor Dr. james Underhill in idaho.

Cameras captured a variety

of species including

deer, elk, moose, cougar, black

bear, coyote, bobcat and wolf.

6 Sightlines • Fall 2011

Bear Boxes: New SCA Grant to Provide More Protection for CampersBy TIM lAySEr, SCA wIlDlIFE BIoloGIST

The Selkirk Conservation Alli-ance is applying for several grants in addition to explor-ing other sources of funding

which will allow for the installation of bear-proof food storage lockers in priest lake State parks. we hope to purchase and install the lockers in order to provide a safe means of storing food for campers and reduce the potential for human/bear encoun-ters and the possible human food conditioning of bears.

In 2008, priest lake State parks worked closely with several part-

ners to help fund the purchase and installation of bear proof trash cans and dumpsters for both the lionshead and Indian Creek Camp-grounds. The partners involved in this effort included: priest lake State parks. Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Defenders of wildlife, National wildlife Federation and the U.S. Fish and wildlife Service. The installation of these bear proof trashcans and dumpsters helped significantly reduce the incidence of bears roaming in the campgrounds. But in 2010, as a result in the natural huckleberry crop failure that year,

bears began to search out other food sources which once again brought them into the campgrounds at priest lake State parks.

Bears entered into the camp-ground in search of food, but this

time their attention was on raiding tables, ice chests and others sources of food. The State parks then imple-mented a ‘food storage’ order that required campers to store food in a hard-sided vehicle or in a bear-proof

food container. This action reduced the number of bears entering the campground in search of food although this policy makes it difficult for campers who do not have a hard-sided vehicle such as campers coming to the campground on bicycles, or backpackers and others.

SCA has currently received two small grants intended for the purpose of pur-chasing and installation of food storage lockers in Indian Creek and lionshead campgrounds. In discussion with the priest lake State parks manager, the goal

is to eventually install a food stor-age locker at each campsite. once the food storage lockers have been purchased, Selkirk Conservation Alliance will work with partners such as Idaho Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and wildlife Service and priest lake State parks towards the proper installation of the lockers within the campgrounds.

Tim Layser worked for the U.S. For-est Service for more than 30 years and was the Priest Lake Ranger District wildlife biologist for the past 20 years. layser@scawild.org

bear proof food storage locker on Upper priest lake campground

2011 Priest Lake Water Quality Monitoring Program: Preliminary Results

Watershed Advisory Group (WAG)

SCA recently completed our 2011 priest lake water quality monitoring pro-gram. According to Idaho Department

of Environmental Quality (DEQ), preliminary results indicate nothing outside of normal lim-its and no downward trends. (DEQ still has some analytical work to do and a final report is expected later this year.) DEQ’s Surface water program Manager Tom herron stated that chlorophyll-a “is consistently low or below detection parameters” and total phosphorus is also consistently low although “phosphorus normally increases slightly in october as the lake mixes with deeper waters and plants die back” said herron. SCA executive director Mark Sprengel stated that SCA expects to continue with the pro-gram next year as the accumulation of base-line data is crucial for early detection of detri-mental impacts to priest lake’s fabled water quality. “with early detection of problems, ameliorative actions can be undertaken with greater prospects of success” said Sprengel.

SCA was recently asked to participate in the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) watershed Advisory

Group (wAG) for the priest lake/priest river area. wAGs are instrumental in developing Total Maximum Daily load plans (TMDl) for streams and lakes that have been determined to be impaired by pollutants of various sorts. pollutants can range from excess sediments to runoff from fertilizers and pesticides and even high water temperatures that may impair healthy fisheries habitat. Essentially, wAGs “directly impact the policy and implementation aspects of a TMDl.” According to DEQ, wAGs are supposed to “advise the TMDl authors on matters of concern to the community, contribute to the education of the residents of the watershed,

WAG, CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

Selkirk Conservation Alliance • www.scawild.org 7

Priest Lake Pirates:Take a Tour of Ye Olde Tyee IIBy ElEANor JoNES, SCA MEMBEr/SUpporTEr

pirates? on priest lake? No, not really, but one has an impression of skulls and crossed bones once fly-

ing the deck when first seeing the skeleton of the Tyee II. The ship lies on its side against the Mosquito Bay shoreline at Shipman point with its hull boards stretching like a whale bone carcass above the water line. The lumber is bleached white with rusted spikes barely holding the wood together. In fact with each summer return, waves and winter seem to have sunk it deeper into the lake sand.

The Tyee II, built entirely from na-tive wood, was launched in Coolin

in 1945. The story goes that upon retirement the ship was stripped of any saleable material and deliberately set on fire in the bay in anticipation of it sinking. It’s said ‘the old girl refused to die’ and drifted onto the shore.* The ship has since become part of the scenery to explore at the north end of the lake.

My favorite mode of visit to the ‘shipwreck’ is via kayak. on the calm waters of an early summer morning, before the lake reaches its season low, it’s possible to navigate around the entire ship. I peer down into the depths and imagine men and women of the 1940s and 50s strolling the decks admiring the surrounding wild-

ness from mid-lake.

In early evening, the Tyee is a per-fect spot to catch the last rays of the day as the sun sinks over the moun-tains to the west. Shadows of the ship reflect on the sparkling water.

No boat transportation? The lion-head State park boat launch road

also leads close to the Tyee II. It’s possible to leave your car and explore the shore side of the ship, especially if you are up for a bit of wading. Interestingly, I’ve never seen anyone swim around it. Could it be that I’m not the only one who thinks of Bluebeard and hook-armed pirates?

Eleanor Jones neé Hungate has spent 71 summers at Priest Lake, and a handful of winters. The Hun-gates’ historic log cabin, handbuilt by Eleanor’s grandfather Joseph ‘Chief’ Hungate and his five sons, sat at the end of Canoe Point for nearly 100 years. It was dismantled in the 1990s due to ‘old age.’ ejjones3@earthlink.net

* from the book North of the Narrows by Claude and Catherine Simpson.

on August 12, 2011, Mark Sprengel, SCA’s executive director, and I set out to climb phoebes, which is located

in the Idaho Selkirks. our route would take us to the top of the Mollies and then cross country to phoebes. The trail to the top of Mollies is steep and lined with brush, but the view on top is worth the climb. After a short rest, we started for phoebes. As there is no trail, we experienced periods of bushwhack-ing, rock scrambling, and traveling through open hillsides.

The entire time we were hiking, we were encountering large displays of wildflowers. At the end of the day we had identified 17 differ-ent species of wildflowers. with the beautiful view and all the wildflowers, the hike to this point was great but it was about to get better. As Mark and I were descending a hillside, a female grizzly with two large cubs crossed our path.

Since we were upwind and above the griz-zlies, they were unaware of our presence.

They entered a small ravine, but did not exit the other end. As the day was getting quite warm they appeared to bed down. Since this ravine was between us and phoebes, we de-cided the climb to the top would have to wait for another day. Although we cut our hike short, to view three grizzlies in the wild was an exciting experience.

Favorite Places:Phoebes & The Mollies

SUBMITTED By BrUCE CUNNINGhAM, SCA MEMBEr/SUpporTEr

help identify contributing pollution sources in the watershed, assist in dividing pollution reduction allocations among contributors, recommend specific actions needed to ef-fectively control sources of pollution, and help develop and set in motion implementation plans needed to meet water quality targets identified in the TMDl.”

largely due to excessive logging, and unsophisticated forest management prac-

tices, a significant number of streams in the priest river subbasin are regarded as impaired and in need of TMDls. SCA will strive to ensure that corrective plans are the best possible.

WAG, CONT’D FROM PAGE 6

the weathered bones of the tyee ii slowly disap-pear into Mosquito bay. Visit the historic ship before it’s gone. (photo credits: eleanor jones).

8 Sightlines • Fall 2011

Seniors Hike the Selkirks: Looking Back on 2011, Looking Ahead to 2012By MAry SMITh, SCA MEMBEr/SUpporTEr

The trails on this year’s schedule included some old favorites, some flat easy ones, and some new ones.

Pend Oreille County Park was an adventure. There were several trails, but no markers to indicate which one we were on. By guess and by golly, as Daddy used to say, and the help of a map, we were able to find our way.

There were some that just didn’t do it for us. South Skookum was too short, as it turned out and Geophysi-cal was ho-hum: basically, just a road with weeds in it.

The Rock Slide trail, after we negoti-ated the road was more fun. The 3-foot diameter log that we used to cross the creek last year was now washed away from the high water in springtime. After scouting up and down the creek we finally found a place to cross without wading. From there it was under logs, over logs, down the length of logs and two more

creek crossings. The trail was there, but it was more like bushwhacking. The rock slide was interesting, and the falls above the rock slide were gorgeous. Snow Creek Falls is on the road to the roman Nose lakes. The trail di-vides into upper and lower falls trails. The upper trail is longer, but the falls are much more beautiful.

parking for Roman Nose Lakes is at the lower lake and there is also a campground. The lower lake is breathtakingly beauti-ful—an alpine lake. we ventured to the upper lake and intend to go back as well to both upper and lower lakes next year. The up-per lake trail climbs to more than 6,000 feet. Beautiful, spectacular terrain along the trail makes this a photog-rapher’s dream. At the lower end of the lake, the extra-wet spring had left the trail too mushy to continue so we were not able to

see the main body of the lake. we were also determined to do Har-rison Lake this year. one look at the VEry steep beginning of the trail, and we said, “oh, it has to level off farther up.” No. It didn’t level off until we reached the lake. we took our time, made MANy rest stops, and kept saying, “we’ve come this far.” Again, beautiful scenery, made it well worth the effort. we found lush greenery, bare granite rocks the size of buses, and rock walls—leading to a beautiful lake more than 6,000 feet elevation. The Elk Creek trail climbs to a ridge

with a grand view of layers of moun-tains and the Mill pond below. From there the trail aims downhill to Elk Creek Falls, a happy splashing water-fall about thirty feet high.

These are the new trails we did this year. The hikers were enthusiastic and appreciative of the beauty and are ready for next year’s adventures.

To connect with Hikes for Seniors, contact Mary Smith at 208-448-2282 or marypr@conceptcable.com

Timber Sales: Priest

The Idaho panhandle National Forest is in the planning process for a timber sale on the priest

lake ranger District. This proposed project lies south of the high Bridge between highway 57 and the lower priest river. The project area is ap-proximately 30,000 acres in size and the Forest Service is currently exploring management options which include tim-ber harvesting on approximately 1,000 acres along with some controlled fire on other acres.

The Forest Service began planning this project several years ago and has nar-rowed the level of management down to approximately 1,000 acres after con-cerns pertaining to wildlife habitat, old growth and wetland management. Sel-kirk Conservation Alliance has partici-pated in two field trips to this area that were sponsored by the Forest Service.

The impetus for management in this area centers around the build up of forest fuels, and reducing the risk of wildfire in the area. The agency intends to go out to the public and ask for com-ments and concerns in the near fu-ture. Selkirk Conservation Alliance will continue to be involved and will provide comments and identify management issues as needed.

consider a hike with the sca senior group in the stunning selkirks. (photo credit: Mary smith.)