Missoula Field Office
| Contacts: | Contact David Abrams 406-533-7617 |
BLM Plans Prescribed Burn South of Ovando and West of Helmville
Smoke may be visible during the next five weeks in the mountains south of Ovando and west of Helmville as the Bureau of Land Management’s Missoula Field Office prepares for a prescribed burn this fall.
The 200-acre burn is in the Murray and Douglas Creek drainages, about two miles east of Elevation Mountain. The burn may take up to five days to complete and will take place when weather and fuel conditions are favorable, but could occur anytime over the next five weeks.
The prescribed burn will reduce the amount of vegetation in the area. By removing the small, “ladder fuels” and down, woody debris, the risk of future large wildfires is also reduced. BLM fuels specialists are attempting to restore the historic vegetative conditions characterized by large-diameter ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, and Douglas fir with intermittent openings.
Fire fighters will ignite the burn by air using a helitorch, a device mounted on a helicopter that can cover a large area efficiently.
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.
Missoula Field Office 3255 Fort Missoula Road Missoula, MT 59804