HLCNF releases new Land Management Plan

HELENA, Oct. 29 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service has released the revised Helena–Lewis and Clark National Forest Land Management Plan and final environmental impact statement.

"This plan is the culmination of seven years of public engagement, community involvement, analysis and coordination with our partners," said Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest Supervisor Bill Avey. "I am very thankful for the members of our communities who spoke up and got involved in this plan revision process. Input from the public was critical to finalizing this new land management plan.  Our forest staff worked very hard to listen to and incorporate their suggestions and thoughts into the final plan."

The land management plan provides direction for how the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest is to be managed in the long term. Every National Forest is required by law to have a land management plan and update it to reflect current science and changes in forest conditions and public use of the Forest. The Plan is projected to support 2,000 jobs in the local and regional economies, an increase of over 400 jobs from the current plans, and projects approximately $83 million in labor income across local and regional economies. The Plan also includes 7 Recommended Wilderness Areas. The plan also supports healthy watersheds that supply clean, abundant water to the downstream users and local communities, such as Helena, Montana.

"Our current land management plans were implemented in 1986. Since that time, significant changes on the Forest and in surrounding communities made it clear that revisions needed to be made," said Avey. "These changes include new developments in the economic landscape, growth of the surrounding communities and wildland urban interface, shifts in recreation trends, and challenges with forest conditions such as widespread tree mortality due to bark beetle infestation. These changes present as many opportunities as they do challenges, and the revised land management plan will guide our work into the future."

The revised land management plan allows for active landscape management to support plant and wildlife conservation, sustainable forest products, grazing, and recreation industries. It details the desired conditions, goals, objectives, standards, and guidelines that will provide the foundation for future management activities across the Forest for the next 15 years. The final plan represents a mix of lands identified as suitable for timber production and areas recommended for wilderness designation. The mix of opportunities available for primitive recreation and nonmotorized recreation experiences versus less primitive and more motorized recreation reflects the diverse input we heard from stakeholders.

The revised Land Management Plan takes effect in 30 days now that Forest Supervisor Avey has signed the Record of Decision and a Notice of Plan Approval is published in the Federal Register.