Missoula, MT. - A local proposal to create more than 150 jobs and restore forest lands within the Southwestern Crown of the Continent is one of two nominated for a significant sum of federal funding by U.S. Forest Service Northern Regional Forester Leslie Weldon.

If selected by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell, the region encompassing the Blackfoot, Clearwater and Swan River Valleys could receive up to $90 million dollars over the next ten years to restore forests, enhance recreational experiences, fix impaired streams, improve thousands of acres of wildlife habitat and reduce the risks of wildfire to communities.

A map of this region can be found here.

"We have been working for years in western Montana to unite the goals of forest health and local livelihoods.  This proposal funds the work that accomplishes both," said Rosalie Sheehy Cates, president of Montana Community Development Corporation.  "This is the future of forest management on federal lands."

The forest restoration proposal was recently hammered out by a group of diverse interests in western Montana called the Southwestern Crown Collaborative.  Members of the collaborative, including conservation groups, timber companies, and rural community organizations, were encouraged by the nomination.

"Working with this collaborative group has been incredibly rewarding," said Lolo National Forest Supervisor and collaborative co-chair Debbie Austin.  "People from so many different backgrounds and interests have come together and formed a common vision for the SW Crown. The energy, passion, and sense of place are wonderful!  I look forward to competing in the next level of the process."

Participants in the SW Crown Collaborative touted the proposal's potential.

"This is a major step toward restoring some of Montana's most treasured national forest lands, creating jobs and protecting communities from wildfire risks," said Scott Brennan, The Wilderness Society's Forest Program Director and a co-chair of the collaborative group that developed the proposal.

While the southwestern Crown of the Continent is characterized by a strong culture of collaboration and has benefited from public and private investments aimed at preserving working lands and enhancing local economies, much of the forests remain in need of restoration due to a century of fire suppression and past management practices.

"This proposal offers the opportunity to realize the potential of Stewardship and Restoration at the landscape level while providing multiple goods and services to benefit rural communities," said Gordy Sanders, Resource Manager for Pyramid Mountain Lumber in Seeley Lake.

The collaborative's proposal would guide a decade of work on National Forest System (NFS) lands within the Southwestern Crown while reducing the risk of fire to rural communities and restoring forests habitat, and water quality.  The proposal, if implemented, would also boost local rural economies by creating jobs and increasing small business income.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to develop a restoration economy in the Swan. It will boost our local economy, protect our watershed and make the community safer during the next fire," said Anne Dahl, Executive Director of the Swan Ecosystem Center and participant in the SW Crown Collaborative. "I'm proud of the cooperation in our three watersheds."

If fully implemented, the proposed program of work would accomplish the following:

• Create approximately 170 full and part-time jobs during each of the next 10 years
• Contribute approximately $9.1 million annually in direct labor income
• Produce up to 189 MMBF of sawlogs and biomass over 10 years.
• Restore 46,000 acres of forest land
• Reduce fire risk on 27,000 acres of high-risk lands within the wildland-urban interface
• Restore 937 miles of streams
• Mitigate noxious weeds on 81,000 acres
• Upgrade 149 stream crossing structures
• Reduce distributions of non-native fish species in area lakes
• Reduce erosion on 650 miles of roads
• Improve 280 miles of trails
• Store or decommission 400 miles of roads
• Improve wildlife security on 9500 acres via road decommissioning
• Restore and rehabilitate 33 campsites in the Bob Marshall Wilderness
• Reduce water quality impacts associated with six trailhead facilities
• Reclaim 40 acres impacted by past placer mining

"The Blackfoot Challenge recognizes that our forests are in need of management and restoration to address fire safety concerns for our communities, improve ecosystem function and retain forest-related jobs," said Denny Iverson, chairman of the Challenge's Forestry Committee.  "Public and private landowners alike recognize that by working across ownerships we will benefit residents, businesses and visitors to the watershed. The proposal's emphasis on treating 80% of all high risk acres, as identified in the area's three Community Wildfire Protection Plans, is a significant aid to increase the safety of communities from wildfire."

The Southwestern Crown of the Continent Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP) proposal was developed in response to a new national forest restoration program created in early 2009 when President Obama signed the Forest Landscape Restoration Act into law.  The purpose of CFLRP is to encourage the collaborative, science-based ecosystem restoration of priority forest landscapes. Click here to learn more about the CFLRP.

Regional Forester Leslie Weldon also nominated a proposal from the Clearwater Basin Collaborative in Idaho.  A final selection decision by the Secretary of Agriculture and the Chief of the Forest Service is expected this summer.

In addition to last week's Forest Service nomination, the proposal has received letters of support from Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester, the Governor's office, local county commissioners, and many others.  See the full list here http://swcrown.com/supporters/