Flathead National Forest spring prescribed burns

The Flathead National Forest is planning to conduct spring prescribed fire projects when weather, fuel conditions, and air quality become favorable. Smoke will be visible from various places in the Flathead Valley depending on the location of the burn units and weather conditions.

Each project follows a Prescribed Fire Burn Plan. The prescribed fire projects are located and designed to be controlled to reduce the potential for adverse effects, or to escape as a wildland fire. These projects will follow Montana air quality standards and coordinated with Montana State Department of Environmental Quality to reduce the impacts of smoke on our neighbors, cooperators, and surrounding communities. The project areas near Whitefish include a few districts.

Tally Lake Ranger District:

The Burnt Grouse 2.0 ecosystem burn will use prescribed fire for fuels reduction, vegetation regeneration, and wildlife habitat improvement. The burn would involve up to 150 acres of planned ignition.

The Swamp Rat 5/5A/6 – treatment will include approximately 57 acres of a hand ignited understory burn just south of Star Meadows.

Hungry Horse/Glacier View Districts:

The Coram Pasture RX is a Forest Service administrative site near Martin City, used for pasturing agency livestock. Up to 15 acres of livestock pasture will be burned to rejuvenate the grass and remove encroaching conifers. Five acres of hand piles from blowdown cleanup will also be treated.

The Liger 41 Rx is 20 acres of understory burning that will occur adjacent to FS Road 38 near Emery Bay campground. The purpose of this burn will be to reduce fire hazards and to prepare the site for regeneration planting.

The North Fork Road PCT is 5 acres of hand piles that will be ignited along the North Fork Road north of the Demers Ridge trailhead.

There are also prescribed burns happening in the Spotted Bear Ranger District and the Swan Lake Ranger District.

For more information about these projects, contact the appropriate ranger station:

Hungry Horse/Glacier View Ranger District: 406/387-3800

Tally Lake Ranger District: 406/758-5204

Swan Lake Ranger District: 406/837-7500

Spotted Bear Ranger District: 406/758-5376

For precise prescribed fire ignition dates and times, follow our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/discovertheflathead. General forest information can be found online at http://www.fs.usda.gov/flathead.