HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-26-21 Public Comment - N. Schultz - BMW ProjectDear Bozeman Commissioners
Below is the stated goal and objectives of the Bozeman Municipal Watershed. It is my hope that you will carefully consider my input and decide that the measures that are proposed are not in the best interest of
Bozeman, our treasured wildlife and the habitat that they require. Goal
Maintain a high-quality, predictable water supply for Bozeman through cooperative efforts with the City of Bozeman in implementing sustainable land management practices This will be accomplished by
• Vegetation management projects that will reduce the severity and extent of wildland fires in the Bozeman and Hyalite Municipal watersheds. The effectiveness of vegetation management to reduce the severity or extent of wildfires is questionable. The Bootleg fire analysis calls this management strategy into question.
• Reduce the risk of excess sediment and ash reaching the water treatment plant. The new water
filtration system will be able to handle sediment and ash in data provided by the manufacturer of the water filtration system
• Provide for firefighter and public safety by modifying potential fire behavior. It is questionable if fire behavior can be sufficiently modified by logging, that is why the fire policy this year is to put fires out asap.
• Reduce fuels in the wildland/urban interface to reduce potential fire spread 3/4 of Gallatin County is in the WUI area and fire policy says to take measures to protect your structures. The steps that
need to be taken are on agency websites The goal and objectives are questionable, are they really what we should be working on.
Affected areas of the Bozeman Municipal Watershed project
Below are descriptions of the habitat to be impacted by the BMW. These are not small impacts, 17
sections will be logged. The Bozeman Commission will decide whether to support logging 651 acres of old growth south of Bozeman and many sections from the east side of Bozeman Creek west through the
Hyalite drainage. As you read through the descriptions of the area to be logged, I urge you to think about the impacts to wildlife. Also think about other wildlife impacts. I am adding a tremendous Mountain
Journal piece at the end that will clarify what we are dealing with in this section of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
East side of Bozeman Creek -- lush riparian zone with dense shrub community (alder, dogwood,
snowberry, willow, ninebark, currant) and abundant deadfall near bottom of tributary; two small
streams running in the drainage; found evidence of bears feeding on ants; N side of drainage contains
mature DF forest with shrub cover along stream and open meadow understory higher on slope;
excellent elk habitat in large meadow on north ridge; hiking trail already exists up north side of drainage
to ridgeline
Bozeman Creek to Leverich-Bozeman dividing ridge -- mature LP forest with snowberry and ninebark
understory on E-facing slope, contains many game trails and lots of deadfall, especially on lower 1/3 of
slope; this habitat, along with no human trails provides very secure habitat; found a significant spring,
with bear sign (day bed, rub tree with hairs, and feeding area [ants]) nearby
Leverich-Bozeman dividing ridge : -- this ridgeline may also be an important N-S travel route for a
variety of wildlife species; however, a significant hiking trail already exists along the portion of the
ridgeline that would be used for this project
West Fork of Leverich Creek: --this drainage contains good riparian and wet meadow habitat – there
is a large (approx. 3 acre) seep/slump on the east side of the West Fork that is very wet and lush,
providing an excellent feeding area for bears and ungulates -- this area is across the drainage from a
logged slope that also contains rich herbaceous and shrub components; on the east side of the West
Fork is a mixed coniferous forest (old growth DF and LP, with some spruce and fir), and an old
rehabilitated logging road that runs parallel to the stream; there is an abundance of lush herbaceous
vegetation all along the east side of the stream, including on the old road bed; a small pond also exists
on the road bed; found one bear scat in this area; the rehabbed road bed and the lack of a human trail
provides good wildlife security in addition to the excellent feeding opportunities
In general, the project area represents good wildlife habitat with some pockets of excellent habitat.
Features such as wet meadows, riparian zones, springs and seeps, fruit producing shrub lands, patches
with high vegetative diversity, and ridgelines are especially valuable to a wide range of wildlife species.
Data collected by the USFS and MFWP, indicate that black bears, elk, moose, and deer (predominantly
mule deer, but some white-tailed deer as well) are big game animals that reside in the immediate area
of the proposed trail. In the Gallatin Forest Plan (1987), the Forest Service designated elk as a
Management Indicator Species for big game habitat on the GNF, suggesting that management activities
that benefit elk will also benefit other ungulate species. Data indicate that the project area includes
habitat that is important to big game animals during seasonal migrations (winter-spring and fall-winter),
and that such migrations occur in a dispersed, unpredictable pattern instead of along definable
migration routes (Kurt Alt, pers. comm., 2009, included in BMW document). In the BMW document, the
Forest Service suggested that maintaining or increasing the level of security cover in the project area
may be important to big game animals, in light of the high level of road access in lower Hyalite, high
levels of recreational use throughout the project area, and recent wildfires that have reduced security
cover in the northern Gallatin Range (Fridley Creek fire in 2000, and Big Creek fire in 2006).
Above information and information on specific sites is from Steven Gehman, Aug 2010 Potential
Impacts of the Proposed Gallatin Face Trail
The Bootleg Fire grew fast. Did forest
management play a role?
By Erik Neumann (Jefferson Public Radio)
July 25, 2021 3:11 p.m.
The Bootleg fire in Oregon is the largest fire today, and observations are made about the fire’s activity
that should give the Bozeman Commission pause. Here are some excerpts;
• The footprint of the Bootleg Fire includes a history of commercial logging, thinning, clear cutting, prescribed fire and other intensive management practices, according to Bryant Baker, conservation director of Santa Barbara, California, nonprofit Los Padres ForestWatch. Baker says those management activities contributed to the fire’s spread.
One example, he says, is when it burned into the U.S. Forest Service’s Black Hills
Ecosystem Restoration Project.
• “Essentially the fire burned through these areas really quickly,” Bryant says. “So, the fire in its initial rapid growth burned right through these pretty expansive areas of commercial thinning and prescribed fire and did not seem to slow down.”
• Overall, Bryant Baker says, the Bootleg Fire is being driven by windy, hot weather and drought conditions that have been magnified by climate change. And prioritizing fuel reductions like thinning, logging and prescribed burns are “ineffective and counterproductive.”
• He says communities in the West should instead learn to live with wildfire by using limited funding for home hardening, creating defensible space, and emergency alert and evacuation systems.
• “We’ve really got to shift our focus away from trying to manage the landscape,” Baker
says, “to instead trying to manage our own communities so they’re prepared for these
inevitable wildfires.”
Forests as Climate Storage
“It’s becoming obvious to people who aren’t aware that our forests are the most effective way of taking up carbon and storing carbon for much longer than anywhere else.” - Beverly Law, professor emeritus of global change biology at Oregon State University. Mountain Journal has been a consistent voice for preservation and saving what is important
A Primer For Pondering Growth Impacts On The Greater Yellowstone Region
Unnatural Disaster: Will America’s Most Iconic Wild Ecosystem Be Lost To
A Tidal Wave Of People? (Todd Wilkinson) Is High-Flying Bozeman, Montana Losing The Nature Of Its Place?
(Todd Wilkinson)
'Unbroken Wilderness:' Big Sky And The Human Appetite For Consuming Wildness (Todd Wilkinson)
Naturalist Says Outdoor Recreation Can Have Huge Impacts On Wildlife (with Bruce Thompson)
Scientist Says Wildlife Impacts Should Be Considered In Outdoor Recreation Decisions (April Craighead)
It's Time For Outdoor Recreationists To Not Just Be Takers (Lesli Allison)
Eruption: How Human Development Is Degrading The American Serengeti (Todd Wilkinson)
Is Gallatin County Willing To Sacrifice Its Namesake Elk To Rural Sprawl? (Todd Wilkinson)
The Mighty Yellowstone: A Magnificent And Beleaguered River? (Dennis Glick) A Showdown Over Elk In Paradise? (with Whitney Tilt)
What's The Rush (If The Point Is Escaping The Rat Race)? (Luther Propst)
No, Human Development Does Not "Create" Wildlife Corridors
(Kevin van Tighem)
Beholding The Golden Green Goose That Hatched One Of The Richest Counties in America (Mark Newcomb)
Is Development On Private Land in Jackson Hole Causing The Community To Burst At Its Seams? (Susan Marsh)
Did You Hear About The Griz That Wandered Down Bear Canyon? (Todd Wilkinson)
When The Government Tries To Think Big (Susan Marsh) Tate: Growth Is Rapidly Changing Our Communities And We Do Not Feel
Fine (Timothy Tate)
Can Sprawl Be Tamed To Protect Wildlife And Ag Lands? Liberty Says Yes, But.... (From multi-part interview with Robert Liberty)
What's Our Role In Saving Greater Yellowstone? (Todd Wilkinson)
Four Bold Ideas To Save Greater Yellowstone (And Certain To Make Some Squirm) (by Lee Nellis)
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Commissioners, please do not support the BMW logging project.
Thank you for taking my comments Nancy Schultz