KALISPELL — The Flathead National Forest is planning to conduct spring prescribed fire projects when weather, fuel conditions, and air quality become favorable.
Smoke will be visible from various places in the Flathead Valley depending on the location of the burn units and weather conditions.
The prescribed fire projects are located and designed to be controlled to reduce the potential for adverse effects or to escape as a wildland fire, a news release states.
The projects will follow Montana air quality standards and are coordinated with the Montana State Department of Environmental Quality to reduce the impacts of smoke.
Swan Lake Ranger District
- How Now Timber Sale: This project includes broadcast burning in timber harvest units located on Sixmile Mountain, North of Swan Lake. These treatments will use prescribed fire for fuels reduction and vegetation regeneration.
- Swan Valley Bottom Maintenance Burning: This project includes maintenance broadcast burning in previously treated timber harvest units located within the Swan Valley. These treatments will use prescribed fire for fuels reduction, large ungulate winter range improvement, and improvement of forest health.
- Swan Lake Ranger Station: This project includes underburning the administrative site at the Swan Lake Ranger District office located in Bigfork. The purpose of this treatment is for fuels reduction.
- Pile Burning: Hand or machine piles located within the Blacktail Mountain area, Swan Valley, Bigfork community, and miscellaneous piles around the district as a result of, but not limited to: logging, hazardous fuels reduction in the wildland-urban interface, hazard tree removal, recreation site management, and trail or road construction. These piles are burned to reduce fuel loads in these areas and are strategically planned based on their location, access, and weather conditions.
- Dateline 79/80, Swamp Rat 6, Salish Good GNA 67: These projects of approximately 118 combined acres are designed to reduce timber harvest activity fuel loads, improve forest stand conditions, improve and maintain terrestrial wildlife habitat, and help with site preparation for regeneration of forest stands that are more fire resilient.
- Oettiker 3: This 96-acre unit is in the vicinity of Star Meadow, approximately 14 air miles west of Whitefish, and was previously burned in the spring of 2016. The intent is maintenance burning the area to consume the dead fuel created from the initial 2016 prescribed fire. This area was identified as big game winter range, so the prescribed fire will not only reduce fuel loading in the wildland-urban interface but will also enhance winter range by increasing the amount of browse to big game for winter forage.
- Burnt Grouse 2.0: This 220-acre unit is in the Good Creek drainage approximately 7 air miles southwest of Olney and was previously burned in the fall of 2014. Depending on weather and fuel conditions, crews may burn all or a portion of the unit this spring. In the event we burn a portion of the unit the intent is to reduce concentrations of fuel along the containment lines along the top and east side. This area is big game winter range with partial funding being provided in partnership by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. The prescribed fire will reduce fuel loading in the wildland-urban interface created from the 2014 prescribed fire and will also enhance winter range by increasing the amount of browse to big game for winter forage.
- Ashley Mtn 202: Prescribed fire will burn approximately 200 acres of natural fuels to reduce the likelihood of crown fire, reduce stand density, and improve mule deer and elk habitat. The prescribed fire will also help protect our Ashley Mountain communication site from future fire. The burn will be highly visible from the Ashley Lake area.
- Pile Bruning: Planning on burning small hand piles in the Bootjack Lake and Pilot Knob area. These piles are burned to reduce fuel loads in these areas.
Hungry Horse/Glacier View Districts
- Royal Tiger Units 54/54A/55/57: These units are in the Emery Creek Drainage on the east side of the Hungry Horse Reservoir. Utilizing hand ignitions to burn 115 acres on steep slopes. The objective is to conduct a low-intensity prescribed burn to achieve multiple objectives: (1) Reduce fire hazard (2) Prepare site for regeneration and (3) Create a more diverse mosaic of vegetation conditions.
- Royal Tiger Unit 86: This unit is adjacent to Emery Bay on the east side of the Hungry Horse Reservoir. Utilizing hand ignitions to burn 16.3 acres from a shelterwood harvest in 2021. The objectives of this RX Burn are to 1) reduce downed fuel load to minimize wildfire hazards 2) prepare site for natural seed regeneration 3) create a more diverse mosaic if vegetation conditions.
- Coram Pasture: Utilizing hand ignitions to burn Fields 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 for a total of 50 acres. Coram Pasture is approximately 1-mile northeast of Martin City, Montana. Coram Pasture is an administrative site used for pasturing agency livestock. Objectives are to improve range by returning fire and the burning of the pastures in the spring will help remove dead residual forage, reduce brush and saplings, and rejuvenate the desirable grass and forage species for greater stock utilization. Burning rotations of field will increase productivity of the site and improve range conditions.
- Hungry Horse Ranger Station: Utilizing hand ignitions to burn 4 units that are 3.5 acres. These units are located on the Ranger Station Administrative site. The objective is to remove fuel loadings and reduce risk to compound residences should a fire occur. Introduce fire into Aspen stands to restore and stimulate natural conditions.
Spotted Bear Ranger District
- Spotted Bear River units E, M, and N: Hand and aerial ignition (Unmanned aircraft system) will be utilized to blackline approximately 100 acres of Spotted Bear River units E, M, and N in order create a buffer for burning the rest of these units as well as adjacent units 50, 65, 66 and Silver Mule 48, & 49. If conditions are favorable to meet objectives, ignitions will continue through the project area for a target of approximately 515 acres. The units are located on the south end of Horse Ridge near the Spotted Bear Ranger Station. They are being burned to reduce fuel loading, maintain and increase winter range forage, and reintroduce fire into the ecosystem. The units are a mix of grassy openings, shrub fields, and timber patches. In the absence of fire since 1929, conifer encroachment into the shrub fields and grassy openings has begun to reduce the available forage in this area. The low to moderate-intensity prescribed fire is intended to push back the conifer encroachment while retaining key thermal cover timber patches.
- Spotted Bear Mountain Unit 300: Utilizing hand and aerial ignition (UAS), a prescribed fire unit in the new Spotted Bear Mountain timber sale will be burned in conjunction with a timber harvest unit (Silver Mule unit 71) for a total of 48 acres. The units are located to the southeast of the Spotted Bear Ranger Station, just south of Spotted Bear Lake. Along with providing scarification for planting of new trees in Silver Mule 71, the prescribed fire will reintroduce wildfire to a Ponderosa Pine stand that hasn’t seen fire since the 1920s, reducing the understory fuel load and making the stand more fire resistant for the future.
For more information about these projects, contact the Hungry Horse/Glacier View Ranger District at 406-387-3800, the Tally Lake Ranger District: at 406-758-5204, the Swan Lake Ranger District at 406-837-7500 or the Spotted Bear Ranger District at 406-758-5376
Click here for precise prescribed fire ignition dates and times.
