Dillon Field Office
| Contacts: | Contact David Abrams 406-533-7617 |
BLM Announces Prescribed Burns For Beaverhead, Madison Counties
The Bureau of Land Management is planning for several prescribed burns in Beaverhead and Madison counties during the upcoming spring months. Smoke from the burns may be visible to the public on days of ignition. The burns are planned for the following areas:
The Highland Mountains, near McCartney Mountain—about 30 miles north of Dillon—up to 1,000 acres in size. The primary objective of the prescribed burn is to reduce conifers that are encroaching into sagebrush/grassland habitat. The burn will also promote habitat biodiversity.
The Rocky Hills, about five miles north of Clark Canyon Reservoir, and the Horse Prairie area, near Bannock Pass. The Rocky Hills burn is approximately 700 acres in size and the Bannock Pass unit is about 35 acres. The goal of both burns is to reduce conifer encroachment.
Near Virginia City, approximately 40 acres in the Barton Gulch drainage. The objectives of this burn are to consume slash generated by a recent BLM timber sale, reduce hazardous fuels, and to enhance forest health.
The timing of the burns depends on weather and fuel conditions. Generally, the spring prescribed burning season concludes in June due to vegetation green-up.
“Evidence of fire is abundant in southwest Montana, indicating that fire once played a distinct role in shaping and maintaining healthy ecosystems,” said Kipper Blotkamp of the Bureau of Land Management’s Dillon Field Office. “BLM is using prescribed fire as a tool to promote biodiversity and ecosystem health, and to reduce heavy fuel loads near private property.”
The prescribed burns will be conducted and closely monitored by fire managers and firefighters from the BLM, the Forest Service and the Montana DNRC.
For more information on the burns, contact George Johnson or Kipper Blotkamp at the Dillon Field Office at (406) 683-8000.
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 Dillon, MT 59725