Stray Creek Timber Sale

Stray Creek is a timber project located thirteen miles east of Kamiah, Idaho, in the Middle Lolo subwatershed, where the Forest Service (FS) proposed to regeneration log 425 acres, reconstruct six miles of road, and construct approximately four miles of temporary road. The project area is also within the Lolo Insects and Disease project boundary. (Lolo Insects and Disease is a 1,172-acre logging project that was approved July 1, 2019, and has not yet been logged). The FS released the “combined scoping and 30-day comment period” for Stray Creek on October 12, 2019. Like the End of The World project, the FS is telling the public that this is its one chance to comment on what appears to be limited information. Topics that commenters might consider mentioning is that the intent of the National Environmental Policy Act is to allow for public scrutiny on high quality information. If this is indeed an environmental assessment, the Forest Service has failed to properly scope the project. If this is a scoping period, which the legal notice suggests that it is, the public should have one more chance for an open comment period. These should not be combined. Commenters might also consider commenting on the cumulative effects from Lolo Insects and Disease, a project recently approved but not yet started, in addition to asking about the specific impacts from the Lochsa Thin Project (overlaying the same area as the Lolo Insects and Disease Project), the Yakus Creek Project, and asking about more information about timber harvest on adjacent lands, road decommissioning, and past fires. Project documents can be found here.

The FS is accepting public comments until November 12, 2019. Use the form below to submit them. Otherwise you can email comments to comments-northern-clearwater-lochsa@usda.gov. Put “Stray Creek” in the subject line. Be sure to include your name, address, and title of the project. You can also mail them to Kooskia Ranger Station, c/o Sara Daugherty, 502 Lowry Street, Kooskia, Idaho 83539.