Libby Surround Stewardship Project

A Joint Chiefs' Landscape Restoration Partnership Project.
Project duration: 2022-2024

The Libby Surround Stewardship Project will treat hazardous fuels on 4,605 acres of land surrounding Libby, Montana. This project is part of an ongoing cross-boundary effort to connect past, present, and future activities in a large project area of 263,026 acres. Over time and in part due to fire suppression, fuels have increased creating conditions that promote uncharacteristically severe wildfires within these mixed conifer forests. As a result, there is a need to treat lands adjacent to approximately 70,000 acres of past and future treatments, expanding the continuity of fuel treatments across ownerships and the landscape. This project is designed to reduce and mitigate wildfire threats to communities and landowners. These critical 4,605 acres of treatment are identified as a priority by the Montana Forest Action Plan (MFAP) and the Lincoln County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) within the Libby Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC), Lincoln County, the Kootenai National Forest (KNF), and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) further supports these areas to reduce hazardous fuels in the Lincoln County WUI. This work aligns with Federal and State Agencies' objectives and priorities along with the Lincoln County CWPP and the NRCS Local Working Group which acknowledge the need to improve forest resiliency in an effort to reduce the potential of wildfire impacts to public health and safety. This cross-boundary project area includes forest health hazards and values at risk from wildfire such as the municipal watershed with a newly constructed $11.5 million-dollar replacement dam and reservoir in the Flower Creek drainage, that supplies domestic water to 1,800 households. The project area also includes multiple operating units (OU) of the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site, most importantly OU3, which is 9,200 acres and includes the now defunct vermiculite mine and surrounding forested area contaminated with asbestos. The EPA has defined a human health risk within OU3 for firefighters, loggers, and rockhounders. Activities in this Joint Chiefs' proposal include pre-commercial thinning and fuels reduction on 3,105 acres of federal land on the KNF and 1500 acres of forest stand improvement and fuels reduction on non-industrial private forest lands (NIPF) through the NRCS' EQIP program. Implementation of this project will serve to strengthen community involvement and education, provide jobs, and help reduce wildfire threats to the local community.

Partners

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Forest Service as well as other Federal, state, county, and local entities:

• Lincoln County
• Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC)
• American Forest Foundation (AFF)
• Kootenai Forests to Rivers Initiative (KFRI)
• Stimson Lumber Company
• Lincoln County Firesafe Council
• Kootenai Forest Stakeholders Coalition (KFSC)

Application

Applications are accepted on a continual basis, however, NRCS establishes application ranking dates for evaluation, ranking and approval of eligible applications. The application ranking date for the current ranking period is March 4, 2022. See the news release for more information or contact your local office.

Applicable Conservation Practices

• 383 Fuel Break
• 384 Woody Residue Treatment
• 666 Forest Stand Improvement

Detailed descriptions of these conservation practices can be found in the Field Office Technical Guide.

Payment Rates

Montana Payment Schedules

Montana is committed to reaching out to Historically Underserved individuals and groups. Historically Underserved participants may also receive higher payment rates in addition to being considered in high priority funding pools. Historically Underserved rates are listed as HU in the Practice Payment Schedule. See the Small & Limited and Beginning Farmers and Ranchers page for the NRCS definition of the Historically Underserved.

Ranking Criteria

NRCS uses the Conservation Assessment Ranking Tool (CART) for all application assessment and ranking. Learn more about CART.

Local Ranking Questions:

1. Does the EQIP contract leverage the management of natural resources across land ownership (public-private) boundaries?
   • EQIP project is located in an area that is adjacent to high priority projects on public land as identified in the selected Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Project proposal.
   • EQIP project is located in an area that is within the same 12-digit hydrologic unit as high priority projects on public land as identified in the selected Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Project proposal.
2. Is the project adjacent or within 1000 feet of a high value resource or asset such as a structure or critical infrastructure?
   • Multiple high value resources or assets are adjacent or within 1000 feet of the project location.
   • A single high value resource or asset is adjacent or within 1000 feet of the project location.
3. Does the project include a Fuel Break adjacent to a home, primary line of defense, or egress route?
   • Yes
   • No
4. Does the project show a flame length potential of greater than 4 feet as identified in the Montana Wildfire Risk Assessment?
   • The project area shows a flame length potential greater than 12 feet.
   • The project area shows a flame length potential between 4 to 12 feet.
   • The project area shows a flame length potential less than 4 feet.

More Information

• Joint Chiefs' Landscape Restoration Partnership on the NRCS national Web site

Contact

Eureka Field Office
949 Hwy 93 N
Eureka, MT 59917-9550
Telephone: 406-296-0367
District Conservationist: Brian Ressel