Local News

Open House at Forest Service in Tonasket

Oct 24, 2014

Tonasket Ranger District will host an open house from 5:00-7:00 on Tuesday, October 28, 2014.

The purpose of the Open House is twofold. First, it will be an opportunity to learn more about a proposal for restoration work in the Bonaparte Mountain area. The Open House will also serve as an opportunity to meet Matt Reidy, the new Tonasket District Ranger.

The proposal for the Light Restoration project includes approximately 8,600 acres of land in the Upper Bonaparte watershed, north of Highway 20. So far, the proposal includes restoration work to promote ponderosa pine, western larch, aspen, Engelmann spruce, lodgepole pine and subalpine fir while maintaining Large Tree and Old Forest stands and reducing canopy density. It also includes ladder fuel reduction. A road analysis for the project area will include identification of unneeded roads, which may be closed or obliterated, and inadequate culverts that would be repaired as funding allows. Activities to protect riparian areas are also being considered.

Matt Reidy, who started as Tonasket’s District Ranger on October 20, will be on hand to meet with visitors and discuss Forest management. He hails from New Mexico, where he has been District Ranger on the Mount Taylor Ranger District of the Cibola National Forest. Matt succeeds Dale Olson who left in late April for a District Ranger Position in Montana.

For more information about the Open House, the Light Restoration Project, or to schedule a meeting with the new District Ranger, please call 509-486-2186.