BLM announces North Central Montana District winter season prescribed fire plans

LEWISTOWN, Mont. – The Bureau of Land Management, North Central Montana District’s fuels program managers plan to burn up to seven woody slash pile units throughout the fall and winter months when fuel moistures and weather permit safe operations and meet the appropriate treatment conditions.

The district’s fuels team could begin pile burning in early December, starting with a fuels-reduction project on the top of Mount Royal in the Sweetgrass Hills of Liberty County.

Smoke may be visible from surrounding areas during pile burning operations and days following as materials continue to consume. These burns will reduce fuels from previous hand and mechanical thinning projects.

Fuels-reduction treatments help restore a healthy, diverse, fire-resilient forest structure by reducing stand density, conifer encroachment and fuel loads.

The following district fuels projects are slated to occur this winter, depending on favorable conditions:

Havre Field Office

The Mount Royal pile burn consists of 23 acres located at the top of Mount Royal along a portion of the Mount Royal access road, approximately 5 miles southeast of Whitlash, Montana.

Lewistown Field Office

The Blacksmith pile burn consists of 11 machine piles of slash from previous logging operations. This pile burn is in Cascade County on the north side of the Little Belt Mountains.

The Kahn Coulee pile burn consists of 20 machine piles located in south-central Fergus County, approximately 4 miles north of Golden Valley County.

The Devils Canyon pile burn consists of six machine piles located in Fergus County just outside of Maiden, Montana.

The Limekiln pile burn area is located in Fergus County, approximately 7 miles north of Lewistown in the Judith Mountains. Piles cover an area of 358 acres.

Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument

The Two Calf pile burn area consists of about 100 hand piles, located near the Middle Two Calf Crossing in northern Fergus County, approximately 8 miles west of the James Kipp Recreation Area.

Malta Field Office

The Zortman/Landusky Mine pile burn is located in Phillips County, approximately 3 miles northwest of Zortman, Montana. The area covers 17 acres and contains about 300 piles.

The Blacksmith, Kahn Coulee, and Devils Canyon pile burns consist of large conifer slash piles created during logging operations. The purpose of these prescribed fires is to eliminate conifer logging slash that was deemed unusable during logging operations. The logging slash was piled with equipment to be burned when snow piles up and winter sets in. Ignition should be completed in one day for each unit, but due to the size of piles, smoke may be visible from several months within the pile footprint.

The Limekiln, Two Calf, Mount Royal, and Zortman/Landusky Mine pile burns consist of smaller piles created utilizing chainsaws and fire crews. Ignition will vary from one day to five days depending on the project. Smoke duration is only expected to last a few days after ignition.

Learn more about the BLM’s Fuels Management Program on the BLM website,  https://www.blm.gov/programs/public-safety-and-fire/fire/fuels-management, and the National Interagency Fire Center’s website, https://www.nifc.gov/about-us/our-partners/blm/blm-fuels-management-program.

-BLM-