“We felt it was the best balance between meeting the needs of the project area – municipal watershed, economics and suppression actions – and wildlife habitat,” she said.

As with many projects that include logging, Ten Mile-South Helena drew a mix of support and opposition.

Logging, particularly proposals to use equipment to log in inventoried roadless areas, became a major point of contention over the project.

While the collaborative encouraged the use of hand crews in those areas, officials have elected to allow machinery due to the size of trees and ability to remove logs rather than burn them in slash piles, DeGeest said. Language also has been added to a revision of the upcoming forest plan that would still allow those areas to be recommended as wilderness when the project goes forward, she added.

During a 2017 objection meeting, several wild land and wildlife advocates had trepidation about Ten Mile-South Helena.

John Gatchell, with the Montana Wilderness Association, cautioned that work along the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail could degrade the area. He suggested scaling back plans.