Single Publication

Fire and Fuels Management officials on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest have been busy implementing prescribed fire and pile burning operations across the Forest, accomplishing important forest health and fuels reduction work.
 

On the Butte Ranger District, personnel have completed pile burning operations on approximately 2,500 hand piles covering 50 acres in the Basin Creek Aspen project south of Butte. This constitutes about half of the planned pile burning for the project this winter. On the Red Rock project, located 5-10 miles west of the Bernice I-15 exit, personnel are waiting for adequate snow in order to burn about 500 landing piles.
 

On the Wisdom Ranger District, personnel recently completed pile burning operations on over 50 landing piles and 300 hand piles, in association with the Pintler Face 3 project. In addition, piles along FS Rd 944 and in the Big Swamp project areas were slated for completion days later.
 

Prescribed fires are low intensity fires, carefully planned and ignited by trained personnel to remove excess fuels such as vegetation and dead and downed wood that would enable future wildfires to burn hotter and longer.
 

By utilizing prescribed fires, Forest Service units are working to improve forest health by:
• minimizing the spread of invasive insects and disease,
• removing unwanted species that threaten native species,
• improving wildlife habitat,
• recycling nutrients back into the soil,
• promoting the growth of native trees, wildflowers, and other native flora and fauna, and
• removing hazardous fuels to decrease the risk of catastrophic wildfires. 
 

As winter weather sets in, fire and fuels managers shift focus to burning numerous acres of hand and machine created piles. Pile burning, like larger broadcast prescribed burning operations, follows a set of guidelines within a “prescription” or burn plan. Piles are burned when there is sufficient snow or moisture on the ground so that fires will not spread.
 

Air quality is a significant value that is considered by land managers during every phase of a prescribed fire, from planning and mitigation to implementation. Prescribed fires may be postponed due to air quality or weather conditions. In addition, lighting operations may be ceased at an early point in the day, so that smoke can more readily disperse during the afternoon and evening hours. 
 

Smoke impacts are an important consideration to the implementation phase. Forest officials work closely with Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and must receive direct approval from DEQ to burn during the winter months of December through February.
 

Prescribed burning and pile burning are critical to the fuels management program, essential to restoring fire-adapted ecosystems. In the Northern Region, fire plays an important role on the landscape. As part of the agency’s nationwide Wildfire Crisis Strategy, the Forest Service will continue to work with Tribes, partners, and communities to expand this work in the coming years, improving forest health and reducing wildfire risk.
 

For more information on the prescribed fire and fuels management program on the B-D, visit the Forest website or contact the local Ranger District for specific project details.