Butte Field Office
| Contacts: | David Abrams 406-533-7617 |
BLM Closes Roads In Scratchgravel Hills For Fuels Reduction Project
Some roads and trails on Bureau of Land Management property in the Scratchgravel Hills will close temporarily during a fuels-reduction project in the area.
To protect the public, the BLM will close those areas Aug. 24 to Nov. 6 as trees are removed on 210 acres of BLM-administered land. Signs will be posted along those closed routes, identifying where the machinery is working. The public is asked to stay a minimum of 300 feet away from the working equipment. The area will be posted with closure signs and maps of the closed area.
The Scratchgravel Hills Wildland Urban Interface Fuels Reduction Project is designed to lessen the fuels hazards in the WUI for firefighter and public safety. The wildland-urban interface is defined as a line, area or zone where structures and other human development meet or intermingle with undeveloped wildland or vegetative fuels.
The project includes the removal of trees using heavy equipment, with some equipment throwing debris up to 300 feet. The treatment will result in restoring non-forested areas, reducing stocking levels in forested stands by removing the red dead trees and some green trees. This will allow for safer, more effective fire-suppression efforts and lessen fire severity to the remaining vegetation if a wildland fire were to occur.
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.
Butte Field Office 106 N. Parkmont Butte, MT 59702