STEVENSVILLE — Hundreds of acres of burning forestland in the Bitterroot National Forest sent up a plume of smoke in the Stevensville area on April 2, 2024, as the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) along with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) conducted a prescribed burn.
In preparation for summer and fire season, 35 firefighters, along with five engines, lit 218 acres on fire at the Threemile Wildlife Management Area.
“The objective of the burn is to improve habitat conditions for big game as well as reduce some of the surface fuels and kind of reduce the potential severe fire in these stands,” FWP's Jason Parke told MTN.
Parke explained further that the grasses and forage are accustomed to fire at the Threemile Wildlife Management Area.
“You know, historically, a lot of these under-story plants were adapted to frequent fire like [from] Native Americans and natural lightning fires, they adapted to and just grew and evolved with that fire.”
Parke added that the big game animals living in the area find those plants palatable.
The fire consumed the blue sky in orange-gray smoke while charring grasses black and consuming other fuels that could light in an actual wildland fire.
Greg Anderson, Assistant Fire Management Officer for the Stevensville Ranger District, stated that being around fire gives one a distinct feeling.
“Seeing fire on the landscape it's always exciting. I can still remember very well the first wildland fires and prescribed fires that I was on quite a few years ago," he shared.
Cindy Super — who works for a forestry and natural resources non-profit based in Ovando — has been around fire her whole life.
Referencing with her hand, a short distance from the ground, Super said, "I was this high when I got on my first fire. My dad fought fire for thirty years for the state of Montana. So, we were always around it as kids and I just thought it was the coolest thing ever."
Super wants to create a future where people and fire can coexist.
"What's cool about fire on the landscape is that it's been part of these systems, in particular, Western Montana. It's been a part of this system for, I mean, millions of years," she said.
Super added that there are many ways you can get your home in fire prevention shape.
“The first thing to do is take care of what we call the home ignition zone. So, that would be your home itself," she said "Like what is your roof made of? Is it made of cedar shake? That's probably bad. If it's made of metal, that's great. Is it clean? And so there's some very specific guidelines for what folks can do for their home,” detailed Super.
For more information on how you can keep control of a controlled burn, and tips for wildfire season, visit the Bitterroot National Forest website.
