By Henry Netherland
Pathfinder 

Prescribed burns develop fire resistant forests

 

Henry Netherland, Pathfinder

Seeley Lake District Ranger Quinn Carver explains the details of the District's prescribed burn on 40 acres of Mountain Creek Friday, April 30. Carver said they had a small window to schedule the treatment but that it is necessary for the area's resiliency to wildfires in the future.

SEELEY LAKE - Around 20 firefighters from the Seeley Lake and Lincoln Ranger Districts held a prescribed burn Friday, April 30 to treat 40 acres of the Mountain Creek area, three miles east of Seeley Lake off of Cottonwood Lakes Road.

Seeley Lake District Ranger Quinn Carver said prescribed burns are necessary to the area for two reasons: biological and social.

The ecological reason is that intentional burns allow the forest to regenerate itself and be more resilient to wildfires in the future. Low to moderate intensity fires help harden the bark of large trees so they are more resilient to fire. It also thins the understory vegetation reducing the ladder fuels. This inhibits fire from climbing up into the crowns of larger trees if the area experiences a wildfire.

The social reason is that prescribed burns reduce fuels in the Wildland Urban Interface. This not only lowers the intensity of wildfires that burn close to a community but also allows better access for firefighters and more opportunities to control wildfires that threaten residences and structures. 

As an example, Carver said that there were areas where fuel treatments allowed firefighters to fight certain portions of the Rice Ridge fire, preventing it from spreading into residential areas. He also said the treatment can help reduce snags in an area allowing firefighters to engage a wildfire in a safer manner.

"We can't mitigate all those risks but treatments like this do help," he said.

The District also burned a 41-acre unit Saturday, May 1 in Horseshoe Hills adjacent to the Double Arrow Ranch. There they plan to treat several hundred acres. Carver said they try to overlay their projects around Seeley Lake to reduce fuels close to residential areas.

Carver said overall there will be less land treated this year compared to previous years. How much area they can treat is largely dependent on weather conditions and the burn window, the prescribed conditions that allow them to burn and meet objectives.

"With our late spring and snow, it takes a while for us to open up to where the fuel will even burn. Also I want to try and minimize the smoke concerns," he said. "We're only going to try and burn when I'm not going to send a whole bunch of smoke into Seeley Lake. So that collapses our burn window into a very tight period."

The District's spring window usually goes from the month of April to the end of May. Depending on whether it is a wet or dry year, the fall window can be as early as August but typically it will begin in early September and will continue until snow begins falling.

Carver said last year they were unable to do any prescribed burns mainly due to the uncertainty of COVID-19 and its effect on the respiratory system.

Despite the short window, Carver said the area was "in good shape" in regards to snowpack compared to other areas of Montana.

"As long as ... we get a wet summer, we'll be okay," he said. "If we have a wet June we'll be fine. That's not to say we won't have fires but at least our ability to catch them is better."

Carver said areas up for treatment consideration require an environmental analysis and silvicultural prescription. The prescription sets the burn's parameters. Every unit has objectives set for the burn that will help achieve the desired goals for the site, whether it is for fuel reduction, wildlife habitat or stand benefit.

Henry Netherland, Pathfinder

Fire consumed a stump as part of Seeley Lake Ranger District's prescribed burn in the Mountain Creek area off of Cottonwood Lakes Road. One of the objectives for this unit was fuel reduction.

He said burns have to be within a certain temperature range and fuel moisture before they can begin. District staff have been checking fuel moistures for the past month to see if they fit within the prescription's guidelines. Despite the preparation, weather is still a big factor in how long the fire burns.

District staff monitored the area over the next few days to confirm that the perimeter was secure. They will continue doing so until the fire is out.

Carver wants people to know that fuel conditions can change in a short amount of time and that they should take caution when handling fire.

"Everybody needs to be careful with fire especially this time of year when there's a lot of dry fuels," Carver said. "[It] happens fast and people just need to pay attention to what the fuel conditions are like."

Updates on prescription burns can be found on the Lolo National Forest's Facebook and Twitter pages or by calling the Seeley Lake Ranger Station at 406-677-2233.

 

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