With a need for better forest stewardship and management, the state of Montana unveiled Forests in Focus 2.0: A Cross-Boundary Collaborative Approach. In essence, it’s an active, team approach that addresses catastrophic wildfires, a history of fire suppression, drought, pine beetle infestations and other factors affecting forests.
The collaborative approach would employ a list of actions and approaches. Among them, it would allow Montana to apply management activities on federal forests through what is called the Good Neighbor Authority (GNA).
“The Rocky Mountain Foundation wholeheartedly supports the use of the federal GNA to expand and expedite forest management across priority forests and watersheds in Montana,” said Blake Henning, RMEF chief conservation officer. “One of the primary attributes of the program is that it allows for forest project planning and management across all landownerships. RMEF looks forward to being an active partner in Governor Bullock’s Forest’s in Focus Initiative 2.0 and supporting enhanced forest management activities across Montana.”
RMEF maintains that active forest management is necessary to enhance wildlife habitat and to improve overall forest health.
RMEF is one of several partners in the project that includes the Montana Department of Natural Resources, Idaho Forest Group, Montana Logging Association, Pyramid Mountain Lumber, Sun Mountain Lumber, The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Forest Service and Weyerhaeuser.
Go here to see the plan’s details.