Public invited comment on Brebner Flat Environmental Assessment

ST. MARIES – The U.S. Forest Service is inviting the public to review and make comments on the Brebner Flat Environmental Assessment (EA). The Brebner Flat project is a vegetation management project designed to address hazardous fuels, forest health and resilience, and contribute to the economic well-being of local communities.

The project area is located south of Avery, Idaho in the St. Joe River watershed on the Idaho Panhandle National Forests.

The project includes approximately 1,719 acres of commercial timber harvest. Road management activities include constructing approximately 2 miles of new road, 4 miles of temporary roads, converting 1 mile of non-system road to system road, reconstructing approximately 3 miles of road, maintaining 48 miles of existing roads, and storing roughly 3 miles of roads or road segments after project implementation.

“This project was developed to address forest health and to improve resilience to disturbances, such as insect and disease outbreaks and drought,” said District Ranger Matthew Davis. Additional objectives include providing sustainable use of natural resources and benefits for local communities and reducing hazardous fuels to lessen the severity of wildfires and to enable safe fire suppression efforts. Davis said, “Comments will be used to help refine the analysis and help the Forest Supervisor formulate a draft decision.” Davis asks that the comments provided be specific with supporting reasons.

The official public review and comment started March 15, 2019 and is open for 30 days. Comments may be submitted to the St. Joe Ranger District office, by email to comments-northern-idpanhandle-stjoe@fs.fed.us, in person, or by phone. For information, please contact the Beth Reinhart, Project Team Leader, at mreinhart@USDA.gov or 208-245-6034 or visit the project website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=53048