Yearn to Wander

Logging Debris Waiting to be Burned after the Snow Falls

Today was Labor Day. We drove west and south from Kalispell along Hubbart Dam Road ...

... over the Salish Mountains, through the Flathead National Forest and Flathead, Kootenai, Salish and Pend d'Oreille Indian Reservation, and along the west shore of Flathead Lake. It was a pleasant ride on mostly good forest roads with minimal rough spots and switchbacks in spite of many ups and downs over saddles and through valleys.

Two ecosystems were prominent. They were the conifer forest and the steppe, grassland. The conifer forest, covering the mountains, was a working forest where logging operations were just being cleaned up. Prominent conifers in this area included pines, firs, spruces, cedars, and hemlocks. Grasslands, mostly perennial grasses, filled the valleys. Cattle grazed in both ecosystems.

One interesting tree was the Tamarack or American Larch. Its bark is quite thick and it self-prunes. Those characteristics make it unique in the fire zone. Notice the tall trees standing after ground fires. They're probably Tamaracks.

National forests are managed for their economic value. This unit was an example of well-managed logging. All the trees looked relatively healthy except some of the young Lodgepole Pines. They had a bit of brown on them, perhaps indicating Pine Bark Beetle attacks, perhaps not. The debris piles were neatly assembled with little miscellaneous debris lying around. They would likely be burned after the snow falls. The mature trees, all conifers with a good mix of species, were well-spaced, and the under-growth was cleared. Plum Creek Timber (PCL) is the manager of this site.