Protecting Nature
The Watsons have worked with the NRCS and multiple partners to improve the health and accessibility of their land through the Joint Chiefs' project.
460 acres of hilly forested property situated near Kalispell, Montana, is undergoing a transformation be to healthier, more accessible, and overall safer. Situated adjacent to Herron Park, the land overlooks a residential neighborhood below.
Since 2022, private landowners Jim and Carol Watson have been working closely with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Forest Service, as well as other partners like Flathead County, Northwest Montana Hazardous Fuels, and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks on a multi-year Joint Chiefs’ project in Flathead County.
The couple purchased the property five years ago, and according to Jim Watson, it’s been used by the neighborhood for recreation for decades. He says they enjoy riding horses and hunting there. They also own a working ranch across the road.
Specifically, the Connecting Fuels Treatments in the Salish Mountains and Whitefish Range Joint Chiefs’ project is reducing hazardous fuels and improving forest health.
“Doing forestry work is complicated,” says Watson. “There’s a huge amount of art involved and that’s what makes it fun.” He credits the Joint Chiefs’ collaboration as playing a pivotal role in safeguarding the environment and creating a sustainable future for both humans and wildlife.
Sean Johnson, NRCS District Conservationist in Flathead County, describes Watson as being a great landowner to work with.
“He’s very flexible in letting us do what we need to. Some landowners are afraid of forest management because of preconceived notions about what that looks like,” says Johnson. “This property is allowing us to show that that’s not what forestry has to be.”
Partnering to Safeguard a Community
The goal of the Joint Chiefs’ project is to reduce and mitigate wildfire threats to communities and landowners.
“Wildfires here tend to run from southwest to northeast. A fire that starts over in the mountains could potentially run right through Jim’s property and impact the surrounding communities,” says Johnson.
The NRCS and U.S. Forest Service's collaboration has been crucial for conserving and restoring forested lands in the region, including Watson's property.
“Our end goal for this Joint Chiefs’ project is for us to coordinate and try to connect a series of fuel breaks to protect that west side of the county; so when a fire—not if, but when fire comes from the west and starts to come toward town—we have those fuel breaks in place,” says Johnson.
All work being done on the property reflects the Watsons’ goals of creating a natural sanctuary, protecting wildlife and safeguarding biodiversity, preventing commercialization, and mitigating fire hazards.
“This program fits very well with Jim’s goals and the objectives he wanted to see done on the property,” says Johnson.
Conserving and Restoring the Land
One of the key aspects of the Joint Chiefs’ collaboration is engaging with private landowners like the Watsons in the vicinity of public forested lands to foster a landscape-scale approach to conservation and restoration.
Through NRCS's conservation programs, the Watsons have been able to access assistance to implement conservation practices that are noticeably improving forest health and resilience. By promoting sustainable land management practices, the partnership is helping contribute to the overall health and ecological integrity of the forested landscape.
“If we did not have a strong forest industry here, and that infrastructure goes all the way down to people who drive the logging trucks, we would not be able to do the work we’re doing here,” says Watson. “The NRCS [financial assistance] flow through and stay within the community. We’re paying truck drivers and masticators and sawmills.”
“The Forest Service is our primary partner, and our main contact is Mike West. He’s been awesome at helping to coordinate a lot of this,” says Johnson. The two agencies are finding success building continuity across private land, industrial land, state pieces, and county pieces through strong relationships with many partners in the area.
“We can all do so much individually, but when we put everything together in the same project it really helps us to create that large landscape scale impact that we’re really shooting for,” says Johnson.
Forest Thinning Strategies
Caleb Deitz, the Montana District Manager for American Forest Management, lives just down the road from the Watson’s property and says he takes the property and the motivation behind the Joint Chiefs’ project to heart. A forester by trade, Deitz has been working with the Watsons for just over a year, helping to manage the property’s forest.
“Common goals are fuels mitigation, wildlife habitat, and forest health,” says Deitz, who says they’re also doing a lot of work to improve the wildlife habitat, citing that elk, deer, and turkey are plentiful here and that many other nongame species also call the area home.
Watson describes Caleb’s role as working with the loggers to make sure things are moving in the right direction the right way.
Deciding which tool to use, and where, is an important part of the process. Depending on the concern and the area, they’ve brought in hand thinning crews, used machines and hand piling, as well as a masticator.
“This property allows us to use a lot of different tactics because of its size and complexity,” says Johnson, recalling the area was once densely covered with trees that had been heavily impacted by commercial logging and invasive mistletoe before the Watsons started their forest treatment plan.
Dense stands of trees are being thinned to reduce fuel for wildfires. Thinning also allows for more robust, resilient stands to develop. As the Watsons reforest some areas, they are planting tree species that are more fire resilient, and insect resilient like Ponderosa pine.
Positive Impacts Already
Just a year into the project, Watson describes the results so far as “phenomenal.”
By implementing regenerative practices and employing strategic forest thinning techniques, the Watsons themselves have witnessed positive transformations in both the land's health and the abundance of wildlife.
“I’m looking around the room and putting on my 20-to 50-year binoculars on what this forest will look like and I’m really excited,” says Watson. “I wish I could live another 100 years just to see it.”
Their neighbors are taking notice too.
“To get feedback from the neighbors who have been up here for 30 or 40 years—the back pats from them is validating. We’ve got neighbors going, who helped you do this? Will they come help me?”