Prescribed fires planned at Crane Mtn.

Smoky air will temporarily return to the Flathead Valley and Swan Valley this spring as the Swan Lake Ranger District of the Flathead National Forest conducts multiple prescribed fire projects when weather, fuel conditions, and air quality become favorable.

Pile burning in the Blacktail and Crane Mountain regions will start in early March as the snow melts. Broadcast burning will likely occur in April and May.

During that time, smoke will be visible from various places in the Flathead and Swan valleys, depending on the location of the burn units and weather conditions.

“The smoke dispersion should go over Crane Mountain and then go east,” Brad Gillespie, district fire management officer with the Swan Lake Ranger District, said. “Potential impact is more toward Swan Lake. It won’t look like it did in October because we had accumulation of smoke from all over. It should be a short impact if any, up to a couple of days.”

Each project will follow a Prescribed Fire Burn Plan and is located and designed to be controlled to reduce the potential for adverse effects, or to escape as a wildland fire.

Each prescribed burn will be in compliance with Montana air quality standards and coordinated with Montana State Department of Environmental Quality to reduce the impacts of smoke to neighbors, cooperators, and surrounding communities.

The project areas include:

• Crane Mountain Area — This work includes three units in the Estes Lake, Hunger Creek, and Crane Creek areas. The area is located several miles south of Ferndale, above Woods Bay, totaling 506 acres of under-burning.

Objectives are to reintroduce fire to the landscape to reduce hazardous fuels that have accumulated over the years. A temporary closure on Trail No. 96 into the Estes Lake Area may occur during burn operations.

• Pile Burning — Hand or machine piles are located in several locations within the Swan Valley and Blacktail Mountain area as a result of but not limited to logging, hazardous fuels reduction in the wildland urban interface, hazardous tree removal, and trail or road construction.

The piles will be burned to reduce the fuel loads in these areas and are strategically burned based on their location, access, and weather conditions.

• Blacktail Mountain Area — Prescribed burns will occur southeast of Blacktail ski area and southwest of Lakeside.

Up to 72 acres of logging slash from previously logged areas will be treated with fire to reduce hazardous fuels as well as create favorable conditions for natural regeneration of plant and tree species.

• Meadow Smith and Cooney McKay — This project includes under-burning timber stands located within the Meadow and Smith Creek areas of the Swan Valley. These treatments will use prescribed fire for fuels reduction, vegetation regeneration, and wildlife habitat improvement.

• Haskill Mountain Area — This ecosystem burn project has targeted 128 acres of mid-to-upper elevation brush and conifer. Fire suppression has caused a change in species composition resulting in accumulations of woody material and an increased risk of stand replacement fire. Fire management will reintroduce fire to improve forest health and reduce the likelihood of intense wildfire.

For additional information about these projects, contact the Swan Lake Ranger District in Bigfork at 837-7500.