The U.S. Forest Service will hold a single public comment period with a Monday deadline on a huge project to salvage wind-toppled timber across vast sections of six national forests in northern Idaho and western Montana. Calling it an emergency that poses imminent threats to “life, property, and important natural, cultural, or historic resources,” the federal land management agency intends to use emergency authorities and new rules governing environmental analysis and endangered species consultation to expedite what is otherwise a deliberative process that can take years to complete. “The expediency with which this is being handled is in response to that emergency being declared by the president and the Forest Service response to that declaration,” said agency spokesperson Sara Rouse. …Mike Reggear, agency resource manager for the Idaho Forest Group, said the Forest Service isn’t set up to respond with the speed needed to salvage timber killed by events like windstorms and fire.