A Joint Chiefs' Landscape Restoration Partnership Project.
Project duration: 2022-2024
Project Area
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The Gallatin Valley Forest Resiliency and Watershed Health Project is a cross-boundary collaboration effort between the U.S. Forest Service, Custer Gallatin National Forest, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Bozeman Field Office, aimed at reducing the risk of wildfire, maintaining high-quality water supply, and increasing forest health and resiliency. This project will treat a total of 4,961 acres, which includes 3,336 acres on National Forest System lands and 1,625 acres on private lands. Prescribed fire, timber harvest, shaded fuel breaks, small diameter understory thinning, and weed treatments have been prioritized to meet the goals and objectives of the project. The project area is all within Gallatin County, MT with treatments planned in the Gallatin Mountains; specifically the Bozeman Creek and Hyalite Creek municipal watersheds and the Bridger and Bangtail Mountains. Treatments are located within the wildland urban interface (WUI) of the City of Bozeman and Gallatin County. Bozeman and Hyalite watersheds provide 80% of the water supply to the Bozeman community. Baseline studies have indicated the greatest risk to the local water supply is a high severity wildland fire, which could generate significant amounts of sediment and ash runoff into streams. These rainfall or snowmelt runoff events would likely generate heavy sediment loading that would exceed current treatment capacity, resulting in a shutdown of the City's water treatment plant, in turn, having significant negative impacts to the drinking supply. As a result of fire suppression, much of the forest is functioning outside the range of natural variability and has experienced a significant decline in forest health due to presence of insect infestation and disease, with high likelihood of additional severe outbreaks and spread. Project treatments will achieve goals and objectives across jurisdictional boundaries to reduce hazardous fuels and improve forest health, protect water supply, reduce wildfire risk, increase public and firefighter safety, and generate economic benefits to the local communities. Planned treatments will lower potential fire severity and increase forest resiliency by reducing hazardous fuels, reducing competition for resources, and returning fire to fire adapted communities. Lower intensity fire and reduced crown fire probability will enhance firefighter safety and the effectiveness of suppression actions. Conifer removal around whitebark pine and aspen will enhance regeneration to improve health and productivity. Reduction of fuel loading will aid in protection of water quality by reducing potential sediment impacts to streams. While not the primary objective of the project, secondary benefits to wildlife will occur through improved habitat and foraging opportunities. Private land treatments of brush management, forest stand improvement, and fuel breaks will occur mostly down gradient of the USFS focus areas. This will expand the protection offered to the municipal water supply drainages and natural resource benefits. Private land treatments will primarily occur along major roads with limited ingress-egress and in or adjacent to subdivisions located throughout the project.
Partners
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Forest Service as well as other Federal, state, county, and local entities:
- City of Bozeman
- Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC)
- Gallatin County
- Custer Gallatin Working Group
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
- 314 Brush Management
- 315 Herbaceous Weed Treatment
- 383 Fuel Break
- 384 Woody Residue Treatment
- 512 Pasture and Hay Planting
- 550 Range Planting
- 660 Tree/Shrub Pruning
- 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:
- 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.
- Is the project located adjacent to a high wildfire hazard zone (see Fire risk map at local USDA Service Center)?
- Is the project located adjacent to a medium wildfire hazard zone (see Fire risk map at local USDA Service Center)?
- Is all or part of the proposed project area located directly adjacent to a public road?
- Is the project within a half mile of additional private residences?
- Is the project adjacent to an existing fuel reduction project that meets NRCS standards and specifications for fuel break or forest stand improvement?
More Information
Contact
Bozeman Field Office
3710 Fallon Street, Suite B
Bozeman, MT 59718-1911
Telephone: 406-522-4012
District Conservationist: Chris Mahony
