Swan Valley Geographic Area

Flathead National Forest Forest Plan Swan Valley Geographic Area General overview The Swan Valley geographic area encompasses the entire Swan River basin and also extends north into the eastern portion of the Flathead River valley and west to encompass a portion of the east shore of Flathead Lake. The Flathead Indian Reservation borders the geographic area to the west, following the shore of Flathead Lake and the Mission Mountains divide. The divide between the Swan River and Clearwater River basins forms the southern border, shared by the Lolo National Forest. The peaks of the Swan Range form the eastern border. The Flathead River valley in the northern portion of the geographic area is mostly non-NFS land. A substantial portion (approximately 28 percent) of the Swan River watershed is also non-NFS land, about half of which is the approximately 61,000-acre Swan River State Forest. Acres in the Swan Valley in private ownership were much higher prior to 2010, when the Forest Service acquired approximately 45,000 acres of Plum Creek Timber Company lands through the Montana Legacy Project. Portions of the Swan Lake Ranger District are within this geographic area. The Swan River watershed is characterized by a wide valley bottom of flat to rolling, gently sloped terrain that is bordered on both sides by rugged mountains jutting up steeply from the valley floor. Elevation ranges from about 3,000 feet at the mouth of the Swan River on the shores of Flathead Lake to over 8,000 feet on the highest peaks of the Swan Range and Mission Mountains. Terrain, soils, and weather patterns all contribute to the generally high precipitation and productivity of lands within the Swan Valley when compared to other regions of the Forest. The majority of the warm-moist potential vegetation types, the most productive lands that occur on the Forest, are within this geographic area. Warm-dry potential vegetation types also occur on some of the drier aspects and soil types. The high elevations of the Mission and Swan Mountain ranges support a good representation of cold potential vegetation types. For a map of the potential vegetation types for this geographic area, see figure B-09. Refer to appendix D for a description and acreages of the potential vegetation types within this geographic area. This geographic area links the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and the Mission Mountains Wilderness and is an important connectivity zone for many species of wildlife, including grizzly bears. Recreation and timber management are major uses within this geographic area. Unique characteristics • The Mission Mountains Wilderness is within this geographic area. • This geographic area contains Swan, Holland, and Lindbergh Lakes, which are popular day-use and camping areas. • This geographic area contains large acreages of diverse, high-quality riparian habitats and wetlands, including on the Swan Valley floor the Forest’s most extensive, floristically diverse concentration of peatlands (fens), many of which are designated as special areas (management area 3b). • This geographic area contains most of the known populations of water howellia, a federally listed threatened plant that depends on seasonally drying ponds. Condon Creek Botanical Area supports a significant concentration of water howellia. • The Swan Valley provides key winter habitat for big game species. • The Swan River Research Natural Area occurs in this geographic area and is managed in partnership with the Nature Conservancy to preserve rare aquatic habitats. 146 Chapter 4. Geographic Area Direction Flathead National Forest Forest Plan • The Swan Crest Trail (Alpine #7) provides a long stretch of trail on a high mountain ridge. • A portion of the approximately 15,315-acre Jewel Basin hiking area lies within this geographic area and contains hiking trails without motorized, mechanized, or stock use. • The Condon Airstrip is an open, public airstrip in the Swan Valley. • The Condon Work Center is currently operated by Swan Valley Connections under a partnership agreement with the Forest Service. Table 47 displays the acres identified for each management area in the Swan Valley geographic area. Table 47. Swan Valley Geographic Area management area allocationa (acres and percent) Management Area acres percent 1a Designated wilderness 74,703 20% 1b Recommended wilderness 46,524 13% 2a Designated wild and scenic rivers – – 2b Eligible wild and scenic rivers 10,020 3% 3a Administrative areas 10 < 1% 3b Special areas 2,178 1% 4a Research natural areas 1,345 < 1% 4b Experimental and demonstration forests – – 5a Backcountry nonmotorized year-round 10,638 3% 5b Backcountry motorized year-round, wheeled vehicle use only on designated 18,609 5% routes/areas 5c Backcountry motorized over-snow vehicle use 20,234 5% 5d Backcountry wheeled motorized vehicle use only on designated routes/areas 9,325 3% 5a-5d Backcountry total 58,806 16% 6a General forest low-intensity vegetation management 16,163 4% 6b General forest medium-intensity vegetation management 91,951 25% 6c General forest high-intensity vegetation management 64,754 18% 6a-6c General forest total 172,868 47% 7 Focused recreation areas 3,607 1% a. Some management areas overlap. For example, management area 1a, designated wilderness, may have an overlapping management area 2a, designated wild and scenic river. Due to dual designations, acreage and percentage totals will be greater than the actual land base. Desired conditions (GA-SV-DC) 01 Known sites and habitat for the currently threatened species water howellia (Howellia aquatilis) persist over time in special aquatic habitats and backwaters in larger, low-elevation valleys (see also FW-DC-PLANTS-01). 02 The Swan Highway (Montana Highway 83) from Swan Lake to Holland Lake has vistas for viewing the Mission Mountains and the Swan Range. 03 Lands acquired in the Swan Valley provide access to NFS lands by the public while maintaining and improving water quality, wildlife habitat conditions, and water howellia habitat. 04 Educational guided services are provided in the Mission Mountains Wilderness. 147 Chapter 4. Geographic Area Direction Flathead National Forest Forest Plan 05 Winter habitat for big game species in the Swan Valley (determined in cooperation with MFWP), from the Holland Lake area on the south to the Swan Lake State Forest boundary on the north, provides desired winter habitat conditions, including snow intercept cover. 06 The size, shape, and characteristics of forest patches in the Swan Valley form a natural-appearing mosaic pattern rather than the straight-edged “checkerboard” pattern resulting from past land ownership and management practices. 07 Vegetation conditions across the valley bottom and foothill landscapes of the Swan Valley are highly diverse in species composition and forest structure, reflecting the conditions that would naturally be associated with this area’s unique and varied site conditions and terrain, including much of the Forest’s warm-moist potential vegetation type lands and an abundance of forest/wetland interface areas. 08 The extensive and floristically diverse concentration of peatlands and fens within this geographic area supports sustainable and healthy populations of the plant species or communities associated with this feature. 09 The portion of the Seeley Clearwater connectivity area from Condon south to the boundary of the Swan Valley geographic area and from the south end of Swan Lake to Lost and Porcupine Creeks (see figure B-30) provide habitat connectivity for wide-ranging wildlife species (e.g., grizzly bear, Canada lynx, and wolverine) moving between the Swan and Mission Mountain Ranges. 10 The Six Mile area provides motorized over-snow vehicle use, including late-season use (see figure B-12), as well as summer wheeled motorized use, consistent with the desired recreation opportunity spectrum. 11 Habitat conditions and ecological processes support known populations of the carinate mountainsnail on and adjacent to talus slopes in the Swan Valley geographic area. Objectives (GA-SV-OBJ) 01 Complete one vista enhancement project along the Swan Highway (Montana Highway 83). 02 Improve one to three campgrounds. 03 Out of the total treatment acres across the Forest, treat 1,500 to 7,500 acres of young forest (e.g., sapling stands) in the Swan Valley geographic area to maintain or move towards achieving desired forest composition, structure, forest fuel conditions, landscape patterns, and scenic integrity, with a focus on the previously harvested lands recently added to the NFS. 04 Decommission or place into intermittent stored service 10 to 30 miles of roads. Priorities are roads causing resource damage in priority watersheds, roads on acquired lands in the Swan Valley that are not needed for fire protection or other resource management, roads within desired nonmotorized recreation opportunity spectrum settings, and/or roads within bull trout watersheds. Standards (GA-SV-STD) 01 Within timber harvest areas, snags or live replacement trees shall be retained at or above the minimum levels displayed in table 48. All snags of western larch, ponderosa pine, and black cottonwood trees greater than 20 inches d.b.h. shall be retained. If sufficient snags to meet the minimum levels in each column of table 48 are not present, live replacement trees shall be substituted for each snag. Live replacement trees shall be of the largest size present above 10 inches 148 Chapter 4. Geographic Area Direction Flathead National Forest Forest Plan d.b.h., decayed or decadent trees if present, and the following species if present: western larch, ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, cottonwood, aspen, birch, or western redcedar. In regeneration harvest units, suitable replacement trees include those that would not cause unacceptable impacts to the conifer tree regeneration (e.g., dwarf mistletoe infection or potential dysgenic seed source). Table 48. Minimum average number of snags or live replacement trees per acre greater than 10 feet tall to retain within timber harvest areas.a Minimum number of Potential Total minimum number of snags or snags or live Forest vegetation live replacement trees per acre of replacement trees per dominance type type the largest d.b.h.

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