With the recent powerful winter storms behind us and more mild springlike conditions in the forecast, Montana land managers are picking up the pace of prescribed burns.
The Bureau of Land Management Missoula Field Office, for example, is preparing for prescribed burning in the Blackfoot Corridor in the coming weeks. BLM is planning multiple burns ranging from 40 to 650 acres this spring along the Blackfoot River between Nine Mile Prairie and Johnsrud Park.
Prescribed pile burning is underway on the West and Main Forks of the Rock Creek drainage on the Beartooth Ranger District in the Custer Gallatin National Forest.
Burns are also planned on the Helena, Belt Creek-White Sulphur Springs and Judith Musselshell Ranger Districts on central Montana’s Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest.
The Lolo National Forest is also burning several acres of piles this week northwest of St. Regis.
These projects will produce smoke visible to the public, and could impact air quality.
Prescribed fires reduce hazardous fuels on private and public lands. They can also help clear out invasive plant species, giving native plants more room to grow. Prescribed burns also recharge soil nutrients and can create a mosaic of habitat beneficial for plants and wildlife.
