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Fire and Fuels Management officials on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest are wrapping up the Spring 2024 prescribed fire and pile burning operations across the Forest, accomplishing important forest health and fuels reduction work.

Prescribed fire and pile burning operations 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.

“The BDNF and our interagency partners are working toward a proactive (rather than reactive) approach to managing landscapes using mechanical and prescribed fire treatments. We have hit huge milestones, with over 4,300 acres treated on the Forest this spring,” said Greg Schenk, the Forest Prescribed Fire and Fuels Program Manager.

Dillon Ranger District
Accomplishments include 326 acres of prescribed fire to promote aspen stand health and vigor. Aspen, a relatively rare vegetation component on the BDNF compared to other vegetation communities, is one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems and an extremely important habitat type for a variety of wildlife species. Conifer expansion has greatly impacted aspen stands across the forest, with modeling of historic populations suggesting aspen have dwindled to less than 20 percent of its former range. Conifer removal, followed by disturbance such as burning triggers aspen suckering from the root mass below the ground and increases post disturbance ramet density. Without competition from conifers, the newly regenerated aspen should grow quickly, and rapid growth should be sustained. These spring treatments marked a continued success toward aspen stand restoration on the Dillon Ranger District (Virtual Lost and Black Mountain project areas).

Wisdom Ranger District
Accomplishments include both the Jackson and Steel Creek FS administrative sites, for a total of 210 acres. Treatments resulted in a mosaic burn pattern, with a diversity of age classes in the sagebrush. These openings will result in increased retention of snow and water into future spring seasons; and the reduction of fine fuels will increase more desirable forage for agency pack stock, while simultaneously addressing potential wildfire hazards. In the Steel Creek unit, areas of conifer expansion were treated, opening the area for more water consumption and sunlight to enhance aspen regeneration.

Butte Ranger District
Accomplishments include completion of 114 acres of pile burning in the Basin Creek Aspen project for hazardous fuels reduction in a municipal watershed, with a secondary benefit of promoting vigor within the aspen clone and 44 acres of pile burning in the Red Rocks project to remove residual piles from a previous forestry project treatment.

In partnership with RMEF, fire and fuels personnel completed 700 acres of prescribed fire to reduce the slash component created from conifer expansion treatments in sagebrush parks in the Red Rocks project area. An additional 9 acres of treatment is slated to be accomplished, in conjunction with the Forest-wide basic wildland fire training operation this week.

Madison Ranger District
Accomplishments include the completion of 481 acres in the Idaho Creek unit in the Greenhorn Mountains that resulted in the reduction of ground fuels to decrease the risk of intense ground fire in the event of wildfire, while creating a multi-stage sagebrush wildlife habitat and providing nutrients for other forage; and the completion of 2,117 acres of treatment in Antelope Basin project (Conklin and Spring Branch) to increase the aspen component and vigor across the landscape, improving habitat for wildlife. By providing a fire disturbance along aspen clone edges, the treatments promote sprouting and expansion of the aspen clone into sagebrush steppe and its historical range.

Fire personnel also accomplished 32 acres of pile burning in the Gravelly Mountain Range, burning residual piles from fire suppression operations on the Clover and Goose Fires.

Pintler Ranger District
Accomplishments include 95 acres of treatments in the Gold Coin project area for reduction of conifer expansion in the parks, promoting the palatability of the grass, forb, and shrub species on big game summer, transition, and winter range. The treatment also helped to restore structural composition of the vegetation, providing benefits to non-game species.

In partnership with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, treating the Rally Way unit (144 acres) of the Lone Pine project reduced conifer expansion and hazardous fuels, promoted the growth of native rangeland grasses, and improved wildlife habitat.  

Last year’s “slashing” treatment of smaller trees within the units greatly increased the success of the prescribed fire treatments this spring. The introduction of fire back onto the landscape reduces the natural fuel loads that can sustain and carry high-intensity wildland fire. Changes in fuel composition can also result in greater opportunity to suppress large fires on the landscape.

Additionally, fire personnel, working with our interagency partners utilized hand ignitions to burn the grassy fuels in the irrigation ditches on Grant Kohrs Ranch in Deer Lodge, accomplishing approximately 50 acres.