Lewistown Field Office
| Contacts: | Contact: Steve Knox | |||
| 406-538-1976 | ||||
| Josh Barta | ||||
| 406-538-1971 |
BLM Plans to Burn Piles Soon
LEWISTOWN, Mont. – The Bureau of Land Management will be burning approximately ten slash piles in the next month in the Judith Mountains. The piles are a result of a logging project that was completed two years ago in the Upper Armells area.
Winter burning ends on March 1st, so the BLM fuels specialists will be waiting for the right conditions between now and then to implement the project.
Incorporated into the burn plans that are written for each prescribed fire project, are the ranges of conditions necessary to implement the burn. These conditions are checked daily and when a window of opportunity arises, the fuels specialists from the BLM will begin lighting and monitoring the piles. Some of the standards written into the burn plan include snow depth and
temperature.
The smoke columns will likely be visible from Lewistown.
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.
Lewistown Field Office 920 NE Main Lewistown, MT 59457