Missoula Field Office
| Contacts: | David Abrams 406-533-7617 |
Controlled Burn Planned Near Elevation Mountain
Smoke may be visible during the next month in the mountains south of Ovando and west of Helmville as a result of a controlled burn by the Bureau of Land Management’s Missoula Field Office.
The burn, totaling 60 acres, is in the Murray and Douglas Creek drainages, about two miles east and three miles south of Elevation Mountain. The burn may take up to seven days to complete and will take place when weather and fuel conditions are favorable, but could occur anytime over the next month. Firefighters will light the controlled burn by ground ignition using drip torches.
The controlled burn will reduce the amount of vegetation in the area. Fire specialists are attempting to restore the historic vegetative conditions characterized by large-diameter Douglas fir with intermittent openings of mountain big sagebrush. By removing the small, “ladder fuels” and down, woody debris, the risk of large wildfires is also reduced.
For more information about this controlled burn, please contact Michael Albritton or Steve Hancock at the Missoula Field Office at (406) 329-3914.
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 F. Missoula Road Missoula, MT 59804