What's up with the Bozeman Municipal Watershed Project?
Hyalite Reservoir. Photo credit Flickr user Keith Ewing.
Part of our mission is to support access to recreation and educate the public about Hyalite, which happens to be a major water source for the City of Bozeman. This summer the Custer Gallatin National Forest will begin work on the Bozeman Municipal Watershed Fuels Reduction Project. This project has been a long time in the making, predating Friends of Hyalite as well as many of the Gallatin Valley’s current residents, and we thought it would be helpful to share a bit about the purpose and history of the project. Friends of Hyalite is not an advocacy organization and we do not take positions on projects, but sharing information about Forest Service projects that affect Hyalite is an important part of our outreach and education efforts.
Eighty percent of Bozeman’s municipal water supply comes from the Hyalite and Bozeman Creek watersheds. While much of this land is managed by the Forest Service, the City of Bozeman also owns and manages lands within the Bozeman Creek drainage. The Forest Service and City of Bozeman work together to manage these lands, in the interest of protecting the municipal watershed. In the mid-2000’s the Forest Service, Bozeman Creek Watershed Council, and City of Bozeman conducted three watershed assessments and all three studies concluded that a large wildfire would pose significant risk to the municipal water supply and that the Forest Service and City should take steps to reduce this risk. Further modeling has shown that a large wildfire in the Bozeman Municipal Watershed could generate an increase in sediment of at least 250 percent over natural conditions and cause significant impacts on the city’s ability to treat water for human consumption.
In 2005 the Forest Service initiated a decision-making process, following the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to determine how they would reduce the risk of a large or severe wildfire in the Bozeman Municipal Watershed. Thus, the Bozeman Municipal Watershed Fuels Reduction Project was born. The goal of the project was, and continues to be, to protect the municipal water supply and the wildland urban interface (there are a lot of houses along the edge of the National Forest near Hyalite!), and to increase the margin of safety for firefighters responding to fires within the watershed.
In 2005 the Forest Service published a “proposed action” for the public to review and comment on. Based on public comments and other information gathered during this initial comment period, the Forest Service developed five alternatives for achieving the project goals. These alternatives were analyzed in a draft Environmental Impact Statement, which was published in August 2007, prompting a 45-day public comment period. After receiving many comments from the public and other government agencies, the Forest Service re-worked the Environmental Impact Statement and added a sixth alternative to address issues raised during the comment period. The Final Environmental Impact Statement and draft decision were published in March 2010, with the agency selecting Alternative 6 as the plan to implement. Those who did not agree with the draft decision then had an opportunity to file administrative appeals and several individuals and organizations did so. Following an administrative appeal review in June 2010, the Forest Service published a Supplemental Final Environmental Impact Statement (to address concerns raised in the appeal process) and final Record of Decision in November 2011. After more than six years of environmental analysis and public engagement, the Forest Service had decided how it would start addressing the wildfire risk in the Bozeman Municipal Watershed.
You may be wondering why they didn’t start work in 2012?
In April 2012 the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystem Council filed a lawsuit challenging the Bozeman Municipal Watershed Fuels Reduction Project over concerns that the project would harm habitat for wildlife species such as lynx and grizzly bears. The public always has the right to take legal action to challenge government decisions and this is an important part of our public processes, allowing citizens to hold the government accountable. In this case, it took until April 2020 for the legal process to play out but the litigation did not result in any significant changes to the project. Now, the Forest Service is gearing up to implement the decision they made in 2011. There is no further opportunity to comment on or change the 2011 decision, as every administrative and legal process has been exhausted. The Record of Decision and Environmental Impact Statement represent the Forest Service’s contract with the public and the agency is committed to following through on what it said it would do.
During the course of the Bozeman Municipal Watershed Fuels Reduction Project, treatments on City owned lands and on the Forest Service land will be completed together for efficiency and to lessen community impact. Altogether the project area covers 50,000 acres. Of this, fuel reduction treatments will occur on about 4,700 acres of Forest Service land. These treatments are as follows:
Prescribed burning, no pre-thinning: 1,575 acres
Mechanical and hand cutting, thinning and piling of young trees: 1,100 acres
Commercial thinning: 2,045 acres (37% ground-based, 24% skyline, 39% helicopter)
Temporary road construction: 7.1 miles
Re-opening of existing roads: 1.7 miles
All of the temporary roads associated with the project, as well as other decommissioned roads within the Moser area, will be rehabilitated at the end of the project.
This map shows where each of Bozeman Municipal Watershed Fuels Reduction Project treatments will occur, as well as road locations.
Over the next few years there will be some temporary impacts to public access and recreation in the lower third of the Hyalite and Bozeman Creek drainages. Access to these areas may be curtailed at certain periods of time and visitors may observe impacts from logging operations or prescribed fire. However, the Forest Service is working to reduce these impacts. For example, the Sourdough trail and Moser Road will never be closed at the same time, so it will always be possible to access the area. Both the City and Forest Service will post information about project activities and associated closures, and take other steps as necessary to ensure public safety. Friends of Hyalite will also share information about project activity, to help you plan your visit to Hyalite and keep you safe.
The Bozeman area has not seen a major vegetation project in decades, in part because this project has taken so long from proposal to implementation. The next few years will be a learning experience for all of us, as we observe changes to the National Forest and adjust our behaviors where necessary to accommodate temporary disruptions. Protecting Bozeman’s water supply is a top priority for the City and the Forest Service, and we think it’s important too. Remember, every time you turn on the tap or enjoy a glass of Bozeman-brewed beer, your water comes from the National Forest!