North Hills near Helena remain closed during fire rehabilitation project
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(BUTTE, Mont.) – Months after a human-caused fire swept through the North Hills near Helena, the area remains closed to the public as work crews from the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service clean up and rehabilitate the scarred land.
The BLM’s Butte Field Office issued an updated closure order in early August which remains in effect. Currently, all BLM lands lying within the North Hills area in Lewis & Clark County are closed in order to protect the public and to allow the rehabilitation crews to conduct their work safely. This includes the BLM Access Road leading north into the area from Snowdrift Road.
“The rehabilitation work is needed to repair damaged facilities and help control the erosion from burned slopes,” said Scott Haight, Butte Field Manager. “During construction it’s important for crews to have a secure work area, especially when cutting hazard trees adjacent public travel routes.”
More than 3,150 acres of BLM-managed lands burned during the North Hills Fire in late July. The rehab work, which began earlier this week, includes seeding 210 acres, constructing erosion-control structures in up to five drainage areas, reconstructing portions of a partially-burned jack-leg fence, fixing roads impacted by the fire and related events, fixing or replacing damaged barbwire fences, and removing hazardous trees along open roads.
Once the work has been completed and the area stabilized, the temporary closure order will be lifted.
For more information, please contact the Butte Field Office at (406) 533-7600.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.