After more than two years of analysis, and as part of an ongoing effort by land management agencies to reduce wildfire hazards in the region’s wildland-urban interface (WUI), Flathead National Forest officials announced they’ve issued a final decision notice and environmental assessment approving a timber project on a 28,300-acre segment of the Tally Lake Ranger District west of Whitefish. Called the Round Star Project and first proposed in December 2021, the plan calls for commercial timber harvests on up to 6,324 acres and non-commercial vegetation treatments on up to 2,866 acres, as well as the construction of more than 20 miles of new roads. Implementation of the project could begin as early as June 1. According to the final decision notice signed by Tally Lake District Ranger Bill Mulholland, approximately 92% of the Round Star project area is in the WUI, where the project would reduce tree densities and fuel loading on a total of 9,190 acres of forest.