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KALISPELL - Three popular state parks will be at least partially closed this winter to make room for logging operations.

“What we're trying to do is reduce the tree densities,” said Jerry Sawyer, who helps manage the sites for Montana's Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. “We hope we can improve the forest conditions and reduce the susceptibility to bugs and disease and wildfires.”

All three parks - West Shore, Finley Point and Lake Mary Ronan - are in Lake County, Sawyer said, and all have similar forest conditions.

The sites were historically home to tall stands of ponderosa pine, he said, but have become tangled with Douglas fir. The fir shades out future generations of pines, and provides a “ladder” of fuel that fire can climb into the otherwise flame-resistant pine canopy.

“When the thinning is done, we want to replant the areas with more ponderosa pine,” Sawyer said.

The project will more than pay for itself, he said, generating about a half-million feet of timber. The value of those sawlogs and poles will depend, however, on market prices, which have slumped in recent months.

Most of the sawlogs, he said, will come from Lake Mary Ronan State Park and Finley Point State Park, while West Shore State Park will supply primarily pole products.

The Lake Mary Ronan work started Thursday, and work will begin at the other two parks by the end of this week.

“Most of this activity will not affect our fishing accesses,” he said, “but there will be some closures.”

Lake Mary Ronan State Park - including the campground, generally kept open year-round - will be closed through the winter. And although the park at West Shore will remain open, land managers are closing the upper campground loop there, which usually is accessible during the winter. Finley Point, Sawyer said, is traditionally closed for the season, and so the work will not affect access there.

Sawyer expected the logging could last into March, but added “it could be done sooner. A lot of this is weather-dependent.”

The project, he said, has been discussed for at least 20 years, but only in the last five years has FWP aggressively pursued thinning in the parks. Funding has proved an obstacle in the past, he said, as has public opinion wary of logging in state parks.

“But that attitude has changed,” Sawyer said. “People seem to understand the need for forest management at these sites.”

Visitors are asked to respect the closures for their own safety, as well as the safety of those working in the woods.

Reporter Michael Jamison can be reached at 1-800-366-7186 or at mjamison@missoulian.com

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