Federal officials have outlined the scope of an 18,000-acre forest management program that includes part of the Allegheny National Forest in Mead Township.

It’s called the Hemlock Run Project and includes land in Mead Township as well as two townships in McKean County.

“It includes a response to recent forest health issues that presently exist or are anticipated to occur within the project area,” a scoping document for the proposal states. “The existing vegetation condition of the project area will be moved to the desired condition as described in the ANF (Forest Plan).”

According to a release from the ANF, proposed actions include tree harvesting and reforestation, oak restoration, prescribed fire, treatment of non-native invasive plants, wildlife habitat improvements, and aquatic habitat improvements, and stream improvements.

The project aims to provide “a diversity of vegetation patterns across the landscape that represents well distributed habitats, a range of forest age classes and vegetative stages, a variety of healthy functioning vegetation layers, moderate to well-stocked forest cover, and the variety of vegetation species or forest types necessary to achieve multiple resource objectives and sustain ecosystem health,” the scoping document explains.

Regenerating oak habitat, they say, will also regenerate plant and animals communities “that are currently declining due to unsuitable understory conditions for seedling growth, lack of natural disturbance by fire, and forest health threats such as non-native invasive plants and insects.”

Given that objective, over 3,000 acres of potential burning is included in the proposal as well as treatment for non-native plant species.

“Non-native invasive plant species have become established within the project area,” the proposal states, “and there is a need to implement treatment activities that will limit the further introduction and/or spread of these species and conserve forest resources in a manner that presents the least hazard to humans and maintains or restores forest resources.”

Those treatments are proposed for approximately 1,000 acres.

The scoping process will be followed by an environmental assessment. Federal officials are seeking comments from the public on the proposal at this stage by April 13.

Comments can be made online, through the mail and over the phone

“Public comments are important to help guide management on these public lands,” Bradford District Ranger Rich Hatfield said. “We carefully review every comment we receive on proposed activities. Comments may be used to modify or develop alternatives to the proposed action.”