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Resident urges watershed study as Forest Service details bridge and road damage from floods
Summary
A South Lincoln County property owner urged commissioners to coordinate a Libby Creek watershed study after recent floods. U.S. Forest Service representative Seth described bridge failures, washouts and plans for temporary bridges, emergency repair funding and timber-sale impacts.
A county property owner pressed Lincoln County commissioners on Jan. 14 to pursue a coordinated watershed study of Libby Creek after severe flooding damaged private property and public infrastructure.
“My name is Mike Fania. I am a property owner on Farm to Market Road … like many of my neighbors … got hammered by the floods a couple weeks ago,” Mike Fania told the board during the public-comment period, urging the county to “be proactive and work with these entities … to conduct an overall watershed study of Libby Creek.”
The request followed a detailed update from the U.S. Forest Service. Seth, the Forest Service representative, told the commissioners that heavy runoff and blowdown across the forest damaged multiple bridges and roads and left some campgrounds and road corridors buried under debris. “We do have a plan for at least two of those critical bridges,” Seth said, and the agency is pursuing temporary bridge installations and longer-term repairs.
Seth said the forest is working to identify salvage opportunities where blowdown left intact trees with commercial value and to get emergency-repair (ER) funding requests submitted in time. “You can request ER dollars through federal highways for federally owned roads,” he said, noting deadlines apply from the date of the incident. He also described roadway washouts on Ross Creek and damage to the Spar Creek campground’s water system that will take months to assess and repair.
The Forest Service reported progress on fuels-reduction and stewardship efforts despite the damage: staff said fiscal-year accomplishments included higher-than-expected acres treated for fuels and several Good Neighbor Authority sales moving toward advertisement or roadwork. The agency also flagged ongoing litigation and decision points around specific timber sales; Seth said some projects could be six months to a year from resolution through the courts.
County officials did not commit to a deadline in public remarks but asked the Forest Service to provide follow-up details. Commissioners and staff discussed possible county-led applications for state or federal resiliency funding and coordination with agencies the commenter named — U.S. Forest Service, DEQ, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and others.
What happens next: Commissioners acknowledged the public request and the Forest Service’s need to coordinate on engineering and funding; county staff said they would follow up with the Forest Service and other agencies about potential watershed planning, and the Forest Service said it would circulate further technical information and timelines to the county.
