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Miles City Fuels Program

The Miles City Field Office Fuels Program is headquartered in the fire management building at the Miles City Field Office at 111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, Montana. There is a Fuels Program Manager along with the three Fuels Technicians.

The mission of the Miles City Fuels Program is to:

• Assist the Miles City Field Office, the Montana/Dakotas East Zone Fire Management program, and other interagency partners with the planning and implementation of the National Fire Plan.
• Reduce the risk of loss to owners of adjacent lands, homes and natural resources.
• Help to restore the local fire adapted ecosystems and vegetation.
• Develop future fire managers.

The fuels program develops, plans and implements fuel management projects and assists other disciplines such as forestry, range and wildlife. The fuels management group also acts as advisors to other agencies and private landowners when requested.

Current and past projects include thinning and burning in the wildland urban interface, large-scale prescribed fire for habitat and range improvement, thinning and burning to restore and protect cottonwood river bottoms and green ash draws, and slash management on timber sales.

Fort Meade (South Dakota) Fuels Program  

The South Dakota Fuels Program is located at 53 Sheridan Street, Fort Meade, South Dakota. There is a Fuels Program Manager and an eight-person Fuels/Prescribed Fire Module.

The mission of the Fort Meade Fuels Module program is to develop and provide self-sufficient, multi-skilled fuels and fire professionals with a primary commitment to fuels and prescribed fire operations and planning. The primary priority and purpose of the Fuels Module is to assist the Montana/Dakotas East Zone Fire Management program in the areas of fuels, prescribed fire and wildland fire. The secondary priority is to assist other zones and agencies in fuels/prescribed fire projects.

The fuels program is implementing numerous project/treatments to reduce hazardous forest fuels in and around wildland urban interface areas. The treatments include commercial thinning, non-commercial thinning, prescribed fire, post-fire fuel treatments, and fire containment zone (FCZ) construction. The fuels program goals and objectives are to reduce forest density and fuel loading; reduce risk of uncharacteristically intense fire; reduce risk to life, property and natural resources; increase safety to fire suppression crews; develop sustainable forest conditions and restoration of natural ecological systems. The South Dakota fuels program works closely with its interagency partners in developing and implementing all fuels treatment activities.

The Fort Meade Fuels Module is responsible for implementing numerous treatment activities, which include project layout, project monitoring, thinning, piling slash, burning slash piles, and acting as project inspectors and contracting officer’s representative on contract work being accomplished.