Bitterroot National Forest

1801 N. 1st Street, Hamilton, MT 59840 (406) 363-7100

NEWS RELEASE
______________________________________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Michael Williamson
Acting Public Affairs
(406) 363-7122

Forest to open second set of roads for firewood cutting

Hamilton, Montana, July 9, 2010 – The Bitterroot National Forest will temporarily open up two closed
roads on July 12 for the purpose of firewood cutting on the Sula and Stevensville Ranger Districts.

At the same time, the roads that have been opened specifically for woodcutting on the Darby District
(road 1392) and West Fork District (road 49, Piquett Creek) will be closed.

The Stevensville Ranger District will open road 1302A and a portion of road 13131 up to its crossing
with the North Fork of Willow Creek. These roads are located 9 miles east of Corvallis and can be
accessed via Willow Mountain Road 969.

The Sula Ranger District will open road 5740. This road through the upper end of Tolan Creek is
located 7 miles east of the Sula Country Store, and can be accessed via the Mink Creek Saddle road
5753 or the Meadow Creek road 725.

These roads will be open for 21 days.

This is an experimental effort by the Bitterroot National Forest to provide more accessible firewood
cutting opportunities. It began about three weeks ago on the Darby and West Fork Districts with
largely positive results.

The public is reminded that these road openings are only for firewood cutting and only during daylight
hours, no other motorized access purposes will be allowed. Due to the narrow and sometimes steep
roads, vehicles should not be parked on the road as it will block access for other wood cutters. Please
use wide shoulders and turn-outs for parking. No off road travel is permitted.

As with wood cutting elsewhere on the forest, no trees are to be felled onto the roadway and all slash
must be cleaned up. Law enforcement will be monitoring these roads.

For more information contact:

Buster Windhorst, Stevensville Ranger District: (406) 777-7436
David Fox, Sula Ranger District: (406) 821-2331

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