Dillon Field Office
| Contacts: | David Abrams 406-533-7617 |
Dillon Field Office Tallies Project Successes
As the summer field season comes to a close, the Bureau of Land Management’s Dillon Field Office notes a number of successes with projects in Beaverhead and Madison counties.
The Dillon Field Office received $2,195,000 in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding to complete road and trail maintenance, recreation site construction, habitat restoration projects and weed treatments. Some of the field office’s recent projects were funded by these monies, while other ARRA projects will be completed in 2010.
Accomplishments include the following projects in the area of fuels mitigation: mechanical treatment to reduce hazardous fuels in the Wildland Urban Interface near Virginia City (275 acres); prescribed burns to reduce conifer expansion into sagebrush in two different units in the Highlands (326 acres); prescribed burns to reduce conifer expansion into sagebrush in Upper Horse Prairie, South Black Canyon (167 acres); prescribed burns to reduce hazardous fuels in the WUI in two units in the Wisconsin Creek drainage (320 acres); mechanical treatment to reduce hazardous fuels in the Wisconsin Creek drainage (50 acres); and mechanical treatment to reduce hazardous fuels in the Quaking Aspen Creek drainage east of Alder (30 acres, with an additional 66 acres to be completed this field season).
Other forestry projects include: six commercial firewood units marked and sold in Price Creek area (24 acres and 235 cords of firewood); 22 units marked in preparation for commercial timber harvest in the South Tobacco Roots (835 acres); and eight units cruised in preparation for resale of commercial timber harvest in the Centennials (860 acres).
Facility improvements included the following projects (some of which are still on-going): the Windy Point Boat Launch constructed on the Madison River; the Storey Ditch Boat Launch Road and parking area improved; stairs installed and streambank restored at the Canaday Boat Launch to repair damage from last year’s breach at Hebgen Dam; travel management signs installed or replaced on 250 miles of roads within the field office area (especially Sage Creek, the Bell-Limekiln area and Highland Range); numerous directional and informational signs at recreation sites replaced; layout of the Pot Trail in the Bear Trap Canyon Wilderness completed; vault toilet installed at the Twin Lakes area near the Axolotl Lakes cabin; deck and walkway replaced at the Axolotl Lakes cabin; and siding added to the vault toilet at the Sunset cabin.
Other projects from the Dillon Field Office include: 6,450 acres of noxious weeds treated with herbicides; more than 75 miles of BLM roads maintained; 12 riparian/wetland exclosures constructed, protecting more than 120 acres of riparian/wetland habitat; 24 riparian/wetland exclosures maintained; seven fence projects constructed or reconstructed for livestock management; five cattleguards installed and six cattleguards maintained; seven pipeline projects completed, for a total of five miles of pipeline; four new spring developments completed; 10 abandoned and/or dysfunctional projects cleaned-up and removed—including six fences (seven miles of fence rolled up and removed), two exclosures, one watershed catchment, and one cattleguard; four miles of fence modified to meet wildlife movement specifications; three hardened water gaps completed; Rocky Mountain juniper encroachment mechanically cut from about 12 miles (165 acres) of riparian habitat; three wildlife guzzlers constructed; one fish barrier constructed and installed; and non-native trout removed from five west-slope cutthroat trout streams.
Several more projects are ongoing and/or planned from now until the end of the year.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
Dillon Field Office 1005 Selway Drive Dillon, MT 59725