Make Your Voice Heard: How to Advocate for the Great Burn

Advocating for public lands, especially wilderness is not only important, it’s also a very rewarding experience. However, knowing where to start and how to ensure your voice is heard can be difficult. One of the best, most impactful ways to get involved is submitting a public comment. Public comments are crucial for developing the management of public lands,  ensuring that all perspectives are taken into account and holding the Forest Service and other agencies accountable for their actions.  

With the new Forest Plan for the Lolo National Forest currently under development, submitting a public comment is especially important, as it could dictate management decisions for the next 20-30 years. 

Your Voice Matters

In September, 2022, the Flathead National Forest released a proposed plan to significantly expand the size of the Holland Lake Lodge North of Seeley Lake, Montana, a little more than a two hour drive from the Great Burn. During the ensuing public comment period, the Forest Service received thousands of comments, almost all of which opposed the project. Two months later, Flathead NF rejected the proposed expansion.

There’s more to the Holland Lake story, but, suffice it to say, the comments worked. When it comes to advocating for public lands, almost nothing is as powerful as a public comment. It’s a good reminder as the comment period for the Lolo National Forest’s Proposed Action nears its end date on April 1st.

We Need Your Help

The Proposed Action is a draft of what will become the Lolo National Forest’s new Forest Plan, the guiding document for the National Forest and what will dictate how the Forest is managed for at least the next 15 years, but probably more—the last time there was a new Lolo Forest Plan was 1986. Every project and decision the National Forest makes for the next generation, and every animal, tree, river, and lake within its boundaries will be impacted by the new Forest Plan. 

GBCA has been heavily involved in the planning process since it began in 2022, but as Holland Lake showed, there’s no substitute for public voices. We need your help to speak up for the land and the wildlife that call it home. Large, intact landscapes like the Great Burn are becoming increasingly rare, and face numerous threats, and opportunities for quiet recreation, like the kind that can currently be found in the Great Burn ecosystem are fast disappearing. From climate change to overuse, vulnerable species and their habitats need to be protected.

Write a strong comment

Putting together a strong comment that the Forest Service will listen to can feel overwhelming, but with these tips you can ensure your voice will be heard.

Tell them what they’re doing right

There is a lot to like in the Proposed Action, and it’s important to let our land managers know when they're doing a good job. We are excited that the Proposed Action maintains the existing boundaries for the Great Burn Recommended Wilderness. We also want to show appreciation for the FS designating 21 rivers and streams as eligible for Wild and Scenic River protections. 

Let them know what needs work

Although there’s a lot of good in the plan, let the Forest Service know there are ways the draft plan can be improved. We have highlighted a couple important changes: 

• Recommend the Ward-Eagle inventoried roadless area and Upper North Fork-Meadowcreek inventoried roadless area as Wilderness. Currently these areas are classified as non-motorized backcountry, but deserve “recommended” status for their outstanding wilderness characteristics and wildlife habitat value.

• Prioritize wildlife habitat connectivity and corridor areas. The entire stateline area is key for large landscape connectivity, as well as more local elevational connectivity.

• No non-conforming uses in recommended wilderness. By maintaining the no mechanized or motorized use mandate in recommended wilderness areas we can ensure these areas remain eligible for permanent protection in the future.

• Include Fish Creek and the South Fork of Fish Creek as eligible for Wild and Scenic River Designation

Make it your own

The Forest Service will often dismiss or downgrade identical comments. The best comments come from those who include how government action affects them. Point to how wild places are important to you, or how strong conservation efforts are tied to your values. Don’t be afraid to make it yours.

A Year in Review: 2022

Update from the Field: Trail Crew

Hitch Report

Organizations: Great Burn Conservation Alliance and United States Forest Service

Hitch Report Dates: July 20-27, 2022

SCHEDULE AND EVENTS

July 20:

Excited for the work week, and knowing the hitch vobjectives, the crew packed up at the Pierce Work Center, and made their way to the Weitas Guard Station. After unpacking and settling into camp, the crew took lunch with the Youth Conservation Corps who were visiting for the day cleaning out open tops with Tim on the 555 Rd. 

After lunch, the crew all worked together to brush the trail starting downstream of the guard station. Dacotah and Colby ran the brushcutters while Kilynn, Joelle, and Leslie swamped. They made it 0.4 miles and hiked back to camp by 4:30pm. 

Kilynn is excited that the flavorful, yet tiny, wild strawberries are finally ripe!

July 21:

The crew split up today. Colby, Leslie and Dacotah headed down stream towards the trail head with saws. They made sure everything was cut to specification on the cuts made the previous hitch, and continued for another 0.4 miles of log out. 

Leslie worked to cut out old and new downfalls to specification on the downstream portion of the trail. 

Kilynn and Joelle headed upstream to the outfitter’s camp to work back towards the guard station with saws to recut downed trees to specifications. This was important as the previous week some cuts were not back to the eight foot clearing limit as the crew was focusing on making the trail passable. While logging out, Joelle worked with Kilynn to do the field portion of her chainsaw certification. As a Class B sawyer, Joelle can work on this with Kilynn, and Tim (class C sawyer) can review the evaluation and sign off as a second evaluator.  

Tim shuttled gas for the women, and worked to put up new signs on the upstream portion of the trail. He also shuttled a large five gallon tank of fuel to the downstream group as well for future brush cutting needs. 

July 22:

Colby, Leslie and Dacotah picked up where they left off the day before on the downstream portion of the trail. They worked hard, and hiked fast, and were able to make it to the junction of the Bugle Point trail at Johnny Creek which is about six miles from the Guard Station.  Here they tied into what the GAOA trail crew had done last year. They did about 1.2mi of fresh logging, and hiked a total of 12 mi. On the way out Colby and Dacotah got a head start on root wad removal and hacked the remaining roots off with a hatchet and then pushed and pulled as hard they could until it tumbled off of the trail. 

Meanwhile, Joelle and Kilynn completed the work of specification log out from the pack bridge to the Guard Station, with great timing of making it back by 4:30pm. They encountered 5 hikers and 3 bikers who were all out fishing and very grateful to have the trail logged out and passable. 

Kilynn and Joelle picked a beautiful wildflower bouquet in a salsa jar that happily decorated the kitchen table for the remainder of the hitch. 

July 23:

The whole crew went downstream to begin the heavy brushing of the trail. Colby brush cut, and Joelle and Kilynn took turns brush cutting. The mosquitoes and little black flies were relentless today and caused some crew members to cover up with bug head nets during breaks. Dacotah cut the brush that was too big or hard to reach on the uphill side with the chainsaw, and also cut down trees that the removal of the brush revealed. Leslie swamped and worked on tread. 

Two motorcyclists that Joelle and Kilynn had seen the previous day were encountered on the trail again today. They were in happy spirits and gave nice waves as they passed by.

July 24:

Starting at 6:00am, everyone headed downstream, however the crew soon broke into two sections. Dacotah and Kilynn headed past the brushcutters to some problem root wads to begin pulling, and repairing tread for the rest of the day. Fortunately, they were able to remove all four root wads and widen the trail in these sections by the end of the day.

One of the root wads and tread repairs that Kilynn and Dacotah worked to restore. 

Joelle and Leslie started on the brush cutters while Colby swamped and worked on a few sections of failing tread in the hot, sunny, and dry, side sloped part of the trail that runs through an old burn. He switched on to the brush cutter after lunch and Leslie swamped. Meeting back up with Kilynn and Dacotah on the trail, they hiked back as a whole crew and made it to camp by 4:30pm. Baths in the creek were a welcome occurrence after this very hot and very sunny day.  

July 25:

It was incredible to see the trail again after brushing and swamping out the densest sections.

Once again, packed with plenty of water and lots of snacks, the crew headed back out on the trail to continue brushing.  Colby started on the brush cutter along with Joelle while Dacotah, again, was on saw, and Leslie and Kilynn swamped.

July 26:

 With everyone feeling better in the morning, the whole crew started downstream for the final time. Feeling brave, and not letting the bees get the best of him, Colby began brush cutting with Dacotah brushed while the rest of the crew swamped. 

The crew was staying motivated through this last physical work day by cracking jokes and finally being set in a good routine of brushing, swamping, and lopping. 

After a hot afternoon break, Joelle and Kilynn headed back to the Guard Station. Kilynn was finally evaluated on felling trees and did a wonderful job. Staying determined, cutting clean face cuts, leaving a good amount of holding wood, and pounding wedges, she was able to fell her three required trees. 

After 2:30pm, the guys helped Leslie catch up, swamping to where they had stopped brush cutting. All in all, they made it 3.8 miles brushing downstream from the Guard Station. 

Happy that it was the final day on the trail, and feeling accomplished, the crew had some good bonding moments that night. At 10:30pm, Joelle woke everyone up for a “star viewing” party. They all laid on the grass, looking at the stars, wishing on shooting stars, telling stories, and laughing. A wonderful end to a hot, beautiful, and productive hitch. 

SUMMARY

Total Work Accomplished:

1. 6 miles cut out down river to Bugle Point junction

2. 3 miles cut out to Flying B outfitters camp

3. 5 root wads cleared from the trail

4. 3.8 miles brushed down stream

UNIQUE SIGHTINGS:

Flora and Fauna:

It was amazing to see just how much the flowers had changed in the matter of a couple weeks! By far, the most showy new plant was the Woodland pinedrop (Pterospora andromedea; left). These tall (1-2ft.) Plants are a bright pink, with white bell flowers, usually found in small quantities.  As the Merten’s coralroot from last hitch are going to seed, the Striped coralroot (Corallorhiza striata; top right) is now making an appearance. Just blooming are the Shooting stars (Dodecatheon pulchellum; top middle) along the wet shores of Weitas Creek. The Deptford pinks (Dianthus armeria; bottom middle) are blooming on the dry side slopes of the trail. These are not native to the area, however they have become naturalized. And finally, the Mountainspray (Holodiscus dumosus; bottom right) is out in abundance and one of the major forms of brush found on the trail. 

There were no more bear disturbances on this trip, however, the crew did see some deer wandering around camp at night. The mosquitoes and horse flies were still out in bounds unfortunately, as well as the several unwanted encounters with ground bees.