Lolo Forest approves large Thompson Falls logging project
Laura Lundquist
(Missoula Current) The new Lolo National Forest supervisor las week approved a 15-year forest project in a wildlife migration corridor south of Thompson Falls.
On April 10, Lolo Forest supervisor Benjamin Johnson issued his decision to approve the Wilkes Cherry project, which includes more than 20,000 acres of logging and burning within a 76,477-acre area immediately south of Thompson Falls between the Clark Fork River and Interstate 90.
One-third of the project area is within the wildland urban interface, and Johnson said he wanted to do the project to address concerns about wildfire risk. With the Thompson Falls Dam nearby, a number of power lines run along U.S. Highway 200 and the northern boundary of the project. There are also a few private inholdings and a communications tower on Clark Mountain in the northern portion of the project area. Johnson said they were at risk from wildfire so fuels need to be reduced.
A year ago, the Sanders County Collaborative worked with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to push through the 224-acre Cherry Creek timber sale on Forest Service land along the northern edge of the Wilkes Cherry project area at the base of Clark Mountain. The project was approved under the Good Neighbor Authority so there was no public process. The logging took place this January.
For the Wilkes Cherry project, commercial logging will occur on more than 6,200 acres, 62% of which would be “regeneration” cuts, where the Forest Service eliminates all but a few trees, either in groups or scattered individuals. The Forest Service insists regeneration cuts are not clear cuts, but “some of the regeneration harvest treatments would result in forest openings that would exceed the Regional 40-acre opening size limitation,” requiring regional forester approval.
The stands in the area are mostly lodgepole pine. The Lolo Forest’s plan is to eliminate these stands in order for a more diverse variety of species to move in. Natural regeneration is expected, but some of the units would be planted to ensure regeneration of larch, ponderosa pine, and blister rust-resistant white pine. Restoration of whitebark pine will occur on about 250 acres.
Two inventoried roadless areas - the Mount Bushnell and Cherry Peak areas - comprise about half of the Wilkes Cherry project area. Although logging is allowed in inventoried roadless areas, only low- and-mixed severity prescribed burns will be applied in those two areas.
The Forest Service anticipates building almost 30 miles of road, about half of which will be temporary. The project will also physically decommission 3 miles of roads and remove another 21 miles of overgrown roads from the Forest Service system. Some new ATV/UTV and motorbike trails will be developed and campgrounds will be improved.
Additionally, during scoping for a separate project, community members asked for better access in the Eddy Creek drainage on the east side of the project area, which provides access to Acorn Lake in the Cherry Peak roadless area. Even though it wasn’t part of the original Wilkes Cherry project Johnson said he decided it was “appropriate to expanded the project area and modify the proposed action to include a travel management change to seasonally open (the Forest Service road) to public motorize access.” The seasonal access will run from July 15 through Dec. 1 to support trailhead access.
The Wilkes Cherry project arose out of collaboration between staff from the Plains Thompson Falls Ranger District and the Eastern Sanders County Collaborative group starting in 2019, according to the decision. Johnson added that other members of the public participated in scoping in early 2024 and during the comment period on the environmental assessment in September 2025. Johnson said the human environment wasn’t affected so an environmental impact statement wasn’t necessary.
Some of the comments on the environmental assessment expressed skepticism about whether all the logging spread out over 15 years would reduce the likelihood of wildfires. Johnson said wildfires are inevitable, but the project would help reduce the amount of fuels, which helps with fire suppression efforts.
Other comments questioned the negative effects on wildlife such as Canada lynx, grizzly bears and bull trout. The project sits in a grizzly migration corridor between the Cabinet-Yaak and Bitterroot grizzly recovery areas. In 2014, Ethyl, a female grizzly bear, wandered through the area as she traveled 5,000 miles across northwestern Montana and Idaho in two years.
In their comments, the Center for Biological Diversity and Alliance for the Wild Rockies said the Forest Service predicted grizzlies would recolonize the area within a decade but didn’t analyze whether effects of logging and new roads would block their recovery. They also said the project didn’t map or quantify lynx habitat loss and relied on outdated, incomplete data for elk and old-growth species.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concurred with the Forest Service on March 30 that the project may affect but is not expected to adversely affect all listed species. Johnson said 480 acres of identified lynx habitat were excluded from the original proposal, and some trails were rerouted to increase secure grizzly bear habitat.
Contact reporter Laura Lundquist at lundquist@missoulacurrent.com.