Trails of the Past: Historical Overview of the Flathead National Forest, Montana, 1800-1960

General Setting

The Flathead National Forest today occupies over 2.3 million acres in the northern Rocky Mountains of northwestern Montana. The Canada/United States boundary is the northern border. Approximately 130 miles of boundary are shared with Glacier National Park along the North and Middle Forks of the Flathead River. The Flathead Indian Reservation lies west of the southern end of the Forest. The Forest is also bounded by the Lewis and Clark National Forest on the east, the Lolo National Forest on the south, and the Kootenai National Forest on the west. The Stillwater, Coal Creek, and Swan River State Forests are located within the area of this study, and it also includes portions of Flathead, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Lincoln, Missoula, and Powell counties. The Flathead National Forest manages 51% of the land in Flathead County.

The natural resources of the project area have attracted people to the area and have both limited their efforts and contributed to their successes. Major communities in the area include Kalispell, Columbia Falls, and Whitefish.

Climate

The weather in the project area is cool and maritime-influenced. Annual precipitation varies from 16" in the valley bottoms to more than 100" on the mountain tops. On the valley bottoms about half of the precipitation falls as snow, whereas at the higher elevations up to 80% is snow. Air temperatures range from -40° F to over 100° F. The growing season ranges from over 90 days to less than 60 days, depending primarily on elevation and exposure.

Topography

The topography typifies that of glaciated lands, featuring high alpine basins and broad U-shaped valleys. All three types of glaciation - continental, alpine, and valley - occurred in the project area. The highest mountain peaks in the area are just over 10,000' in elevation; the elevation of the Flathead Valley is approximately 3,000'. The major mountain ranges generally run north-south.

Glaciation from the last ice age, which ended approximately 10,000 years ago, influenced the shape of the land as well as the composition of the soil. The bedrock is mostly metasedimentary argillites, quartzites, and limestones from the Precambrian era. Most of the mountain ranges have been formed by block faults. The Rocky Mountain Trench extends from British Columbia southeast through today's towns of Eureka, Kalispell, and St. Ignatius. The soils in the project area are young and silty in texture. A volcanic ash surface mantle ranges from 4" to 8" in thickness.

Flathead Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. Five major stream systems feed the Flathead River drainage, which eventually flows into the Columbia River system. The three forks of the Flathead River (North, South, and Middle) drain a major portion of the project area. The Stillwater River empties into the main stem of the Flathead River a short distance north of Flathead Lake. The Swan River flows north and also empties into Flathead Lake. The Hungry Horse Darn has created the Hungry Horse reservoir on the lower end of the South Fork of the Flathead River. There is also a dam on the Swan River near its mouth.

Much of the terrain in the project area has slopes greater than 60%. Generally, the lands with gentle slopes are lower in elevation and have a longer growing season. There are no known geothermal features in the project area.

Vegetation

Elevation, precipitation, topography, and temperature extremes have resulted in diverse plant communities that support a wide variety of plant and animal life. In the wooded areas, the subalpine fir series is the dominant habitat type, but the forest vegetation ranges from the warm-dry ponderosa pine/bunchgrass type to the cool-moist whitebark pine type. Most of the land below 7,000' in elevation is capable of supporting tree cover. The occasional exceptions are bogs and wet meadows, dry meadows, shrub fields, talus slopes, rock outcrops, and avalanche chutes.

The existing vegetation shows the influence of wildfire. Extensive stands of even-aged lodgepole pine are prevalent throughout the Forest. Fire's influence is also shown in vegetative mosaics, affecting species composition, age class, and life form.

Wildlife and Fish

The Flathead National Forest provides habitat for approximately 250 species of wildlife and 22 species of fish. Wildlife that inhabits the Forest includes elk, mule deer, whitetailed deer, moose, Rocky Mountain goat, grizzly bear, black bear, cougar, gray wolf, wolverine, lynx, coyote, gray squirrel, pileated woodpecker, bald eagle, peregrine falcon, and various fur-bearing mammals. Native fish species include bull trout, cutthroat trout, mountain whitefish, and several others. Introduced species include rainbow and brook trout, arctic grayling, kokanee salmon, and northern pike.

Minerals

The dominant mineral activity on the Flathead National Forest today is oil and gas leasing. Approximately 1.2 million acres are either leased or under lease application. There are no known active mining operations on the Forest.

(compiled from FNF "Forest Plan" 1985; Alt 1986)