The Pogue Mountain under story thin and habitat development project proposes to selectively thin approximately 700 acres of forestland within the 1,197 Pogue Mountain Unit and 100 acres within the 164 acre Big Green and Little Green Access Areas adjacent to the Pogue Mountain Unit. The units are located within 3 miles of the cities of Omak and Okanogan and can be best described as the Wildland-Urban Interface. At present, forest conditions consist of dense timber stands of small diameter trees (< 4 dbh), a thick forest canopy, limited herbaceous ground cover growth, lack of large diameter legacy type trees and forest encroachment into shrub-steppe habitats. The primary intentions of this project are to promote wildlife habitat and biodiversity, improve health and vigor of residual stand, minimize infestations of invasive species, limit the destruction of a intense wildfire event to habitat and adjacent private lands, and provide greater recreational opportunities for the public. This project has been identified in the 2006 Scotch Creek Wildlife Area Complex Management Plan and the Pogue Mountain Forest Plan 2007. In addition this project also has the support of adjacent landowners and the Scotch Creek Wildlife Area Complex citizens advisory group.