Getting Montanans back to work in national forests is a couple of steps closer, thanks to agreement among loggers, mill operators, conservationists, outfitters and motorized recreation groups.

The U.S. Forest Service is holding meetings today (Wednesday) on two proposed restoration projects that include jobs everyone agrees on, up front. Marnie Criley, coordinator of the Montana Forest Restoration Committee says her group gathered the interested parties, to clear up concerns together and find common ground.

“I think we’ve done a good job of getting folks to sit down and talk about restoration projects. One of the stumbling blocks to actually getting projects implemented is funding.”

President Obama’s proposed budget includes a separate fund for forest restoration, which Criley says would jumpstart projects that have been waiting for cash under the current funding model, which depends on good timber market prices.

“Going in and replacing culverts, dealing with old roads, dealing with weeds. With timber values being down, it’s made it even harder to do the needed restoration work that’s out there.”

The Lincoln meeting is at 4:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Ranger District office; the Missoula meeting is at 6:00 p.m. at the Missoula Public Library. Criley says addressing opposition to plans up front will avoid lawsuits later, and the new model could be used for future forest projects to keep land healthy.

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