SEELEY LAKE - Firefighters on the Seeley Lake Ranger District are planning to conduct prescribed burning over the coming weeks to reduce hazardous fuels, reduce woody debris from past logging operations, restore wildlife habitat and better protect neighborhoods and the community from future wildfire.
Pending favorable conditions, underburning operations could begin as soon as Wednesday, April 21 and continue in the coming weeks. Underburning, a type of prescribed fire treatment, ignites surface fuels under the forest canopy. Firefighters have several prescribed burn projects planned for the District if favorable burning conditions occur. Potential prescribed burn projects may happen in the following areas using hand ignitions:
• Horseshoe West Prescribed Burn Units: Located approximately three miles southeast of Seeley Lake and south of the Double Arrow Ranch. Up to 150 acres of planned ignitions.
• Mountain Creek Prescribed Burn Units: Located three miles east of Seeley Lake along Cottonwood Lakes Road. Up to 40 acres of planned ignitions.
Firefighters will only conduct prescribed burning if conditions are favorable. Favorable conditions include correct temperature, wind, fuel moisture and ventilation for smoke. When these criteria are met, firefighters implement, monitor and patrol each burn to ensure it meets forest health and public safety goals including air quality.
Frequent, low-intensity fire is essential for improving habitat conditions for wildlife by promoting nutrient recycling of fire-adapted vegetation and growth of new forage for wildlife browse. Additionally, prescribed fires help to reduce crown fire potential by eliminating dead and diseased vegetation and ladder fuels. Ladder fuels provide opportunity for a ground fire to move into the tree canopy creating a ‘crown fire.’ Crown fires are much more difficult to control during a wildfire response.
All prescribed burns will be implemented in compliance with Montana air quality standards and coordinated with Montana State Department of Environmental Quality to reduce the impacts of smoke to neighbors, cooperators and surrounding communities. Smoke is expected to be a short-duration event and may settle in valley bottoms and drainages overnight but it is expected to dissipate within a few days. Smoke may be visible from Seeley Lake or from Highway 83.
For additional information about these projects follow the Lolo National Forest on Facebook @lolonationalforest, on Twitter at @LoloNF, or call the Seeley Lake Ranger Station at 406-677-2233.
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