Timber, noxious weed project around Bozeman to receive millions in federal funding

By Helena Dore, Bozeman Daily Chronicle Staff Writer
Link to Chronicle Article

A project to thin trees and treat noxious weeds on public and private land around the Gallatin Valley has been awarded millions of dollars from the federal government through the Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership program.

The federal money will help fund the Gallatin Valley Forest Resiliency and Watershed Health project, an ongoing effort by the Custer Gallatin National Forest and Natural Resources Conservation Service to limit wildfire risk and protect watersheds on public and private land.

This fiscal year, the national forest and NRCS were awarded close to $900,000 through the federal program for the project. Over the next three fiscal years, they are expecting to receive a little more than $4.4 million in total, said Bozeman District Ranger Corey Lewellen.

The money will help officials to reduce fuels and treat noxious weeds on nearly 5,000 acres in the Gallatins, Bridgers and Bangtails, including about 3,300 acres of national forest, they wrote in a news release.

About 1,200 acres of national forest will be treated for noxious weeds. Another 1,600 acres of treatments will be on private land, they wrote.

On private land, Joint Chiefs’ funding will go toward managing brush, removing conifers that are encroaching on pasture and rangeland, pre-commercial thinning, noxious week treatments and re-seeding of native plants, said Justin Meissner, a district conservationist with NRCS.

Work will occur on the east side of the Bridgers, through the Bangtails and along the Gallatins between Interstate 90 and Gallatin Gateway, according to Meissner. They will be focused in the wildland urban interface — areas where homes and subdivisions adjoin national forest, he said.

If a fire starts on private land, officials want to have a better chance of controlling it before it reaches the national forest, he said. NRCS has been reaching out to landowners in the wildland urban interface to see if they are interested in participating.

Some work on private land is already planned out and ready to go, Meissner said. The agency is accepting applications from landowners until early March.

“There has been a lot of work put into the entire range around Bozeman to improve forest health, reduce wildfire hazard and improve watershed function,” he said. “On the private land side, I think the private landowners are really excited to see the cross-boundary work to implement landscape-wide conservation.”