Forest work adds up to $13 million

The Flathead National Forest has detailed a series of road and infrastructure projects that will be carried out with $13.3 million in federal stimulus money over the next couple of years.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday announced the latest round of about 106 projects that will be carried out with more than $228 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Projects on the Flathead mostly involve road improvements, along with some road decommissioning and repairs to the Doris Creek Campground and boat launch on Hungry Horse Reservoir.

The amount of the funding is significant, relative to the Flathead Forest's annual operating budget of about $20 million and its annual roads budget, which ranges from $2 million to $3 million a year, said Denise Germann, the forest's public affairs officer.

"It is a significant amount and it's a significant amount of work that would not be done otherwise," Germann said. "A lot of it is deferred maintenance projects that were just waiting for funding opportunities."

Contract advertising and processing will get under way in the next 60 to 90 days, and actual work on the first projects will start by the end of summer, she said.

Contract processing is being handled by several contracting centers that have been set up by the Forest Service across the country to allow forests and ranger districts to proceed with their normal work plans. The Flathead Forest's contracts will be processed through a center in Denver.

The Flathead projects include:

n Gravel resurfacing on the Eastside and Westside Hungry Horse Reservoir Roads and the Tally Lake Road, along with asphalt replacement on the first 11 miles of the Westside Road;

n Improvements at the Doris Point boat launch and Doris Creek Campground;

n Asphalt treatments, including overlay and culvert replacement, on the Griffin Creek Road;

n Safety and informational sign replacements across the forest;

n Asphalt replacement at the Swan Lake campground and picnic area;

n Culvert replacements for improved fish passage at various locations;

n Gravel resurfacing on the Swan Lake Ranger District's Falls Creek Road;

n Gravel resurfacing and safety turnout improvements on the Jewel Basin Road;

n Decommissioning about 50 miles of road slated for removal through the Westside Reservoir timber salvage, Paint-Emery, and Firefighter mountain projects, all located around Hungry Horse Reservoir;

n Improvements at trailheads and the replacement of four bridges across the forest.

"We are excited that this money is coming because it is giving us an opportunity to do projects that we normally would not be able to do," Germann said.

The work will be carried out over the next couple of years, and contracts will be awarded through federal government acquisition regulations.

Germann urges those seeking information on the projects to look for "A Guide to Doing Business With The Forest Service" on the Flathead Forest's Web site at:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/flathead

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com