Howe Ridge Fire

Yellowstone National Park reports that it experienced another busy year last year. The park recorded over 4.1 million visits. That’s a 0.04-percent decrease from 2017 and a 3.5 percent decrease from the record-breaking year in 2016. It was the third busiest year on record.

With snow dusting the peaks in Glacier National Park, crews are buttoning up their work rebuilding Sperry Chalet, the backcountry dormitory that burned in the Sprague Fire last summer. Phase 1 of the rebuilding plan is on schedule and on budget. 

As Montana's fire season winds to a close, crews are closing-in on the handful of fires still burning across Western Montana.

All Stage 1 and Stage 2 fire restrictions have been lifted across northwest Montana.

Put simply, that means campfires and outdoor smoking is allowed again. Restrictions have also been lifted on operating equipment.

A new wildfire burning on western Montana’s Flathead Reservation serves as a good reminder that the 2018 fire season still has some life in it.

The nearly 1,100-acre Rattlesnake Fire is burning about 10 miles northeast of Hot Springs.

Glacier National Park lifted evacuation warnings for portions of the park on Tuesday.

Recent rainfall has moderated activity on the Howe Ridge Fire, burning on the northwest side of Lake McDonald.

Updated 5:15 p.m.

The widespread precipitation gracing Montana has at least tapped the brakes on the 2018 fire season. But National Weather Service Meteorologist Trent Smith says it’s not the full-stop event everybody’s hoping for.

Update: 5:20 p.m.

A fast-growing wildfire discovered Thursday night in the northeastern part of Glacier National Park has led to the closure of nearly all of neighboring Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada.

Representative Greg Gianforte toured areas affected by the Howe Ridge Fire in Glacier National Park Wednesday morning.

Wildfire activity has moderated in Western Montana in the wake of wet and cool weather earlier this week, but crews remain hard at work as temperatures start to rise again .