Land managers with the Flathead National Forest plan to approve a fuels-reduction project in the Swan Valley near Holland Lake using an emergency determination on the grounds that it lies in a “high-risk fireshed,” according to an Aug. 18 decision notice. Foresters say the project is eligible for an Emergency Action Determination (EAD) because it proposes to reduce wildfire risk while preserving the area’s old-growth forests. Initially released for public scoping in 2023, the Rumbling Owl Fuels Reduction Project spans 6,200 acres on the Swan Lake Ranger District of the Flathead National Forest southeast of Condon and east of Highway 83. According to an environmental assessment prepared by Jeff Durkin, the district silviculturist for the Swan and the project leader on Rumbling Owl, the project meets the newly established criteria for EAD authorization, which the agency has increasingly used to expedite approval of logging projects featuring a fuels-reduction component.