HELENA — The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest will move forward with the "Wood Duck Project" in the Big Belt Mountains.
The project area covers just under 70,000 acres east of Townsend in Broadwater and Meagher counties with treatment planned for around 1,200 acres.
According to the US Forest Service, insect outbreaks over the past several decades including Mountain Pine Beetle, Western Spruce Budworm, and Douglas Fir Bark Beetle have all significantly impacted the vegetation in the area.
The project area also overlaps with land that burned in the Woods Creek and Deep Creek Canyon fires in 2021.
According to forest service documents, the project includes both commercial harvest of trees and non-commercial treatments like tree thinning.
