Prescribed burns OK'd near Rock Creek

The Lolo National Forest issued a final decision memo for the Rock Creek Ecosystem Maintenance Burning project to conduct prescribed burns on up to 19,855 acres to reduce wildfire hazard and improve wildlife habitat.

The project is located on the Missoula Ranger District in the Rock Creek drainage in Granite County south of Clinton, Montana. The project area contains portions of Wildland Urban Interface as identified by the Granite County Community Wildfire Protection Plan and the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003.

The decision authorizes prescribed burning to improve habitat for big game species by increasing the quality and quantity of forage and to reduce fuel accumulations to moderate wildfire hazard, intensity and potential spread to communities and impacts to natural resources. 

Since 2000, approximately 117 fire starts have been recorded in the vicinity of the project area with 18 large fires (greater than 10 acres) recorded. Notable fire seasons include 2007 (approximately 40,000 acres burned) and 2017 (approximately 20,800 acres burned).

“This project represents a lot of hard work by our specialists. It provides our fire management program with more opportunities to take advantage of favorable weather windows and use fire as a tool to accomplish fuels reduction and habitat improvement work across the district,” said Shaun O’Connor, Deputy District Ranger of the Missoula Ranger District on the Lolo National Forest. “We anticipate implementation to begin next spring when prescriptions are met.”

The project will be implemented over a 10–15-year period as weather, funding and conditions allow. The approximately 19,855 total acres have been broken up into 42 prescribed burn units of various sizes, generally on dry south facing slopes. The prescribed burns are planned to be conducted in the spring or early summer and implemented using aerial and hand ignition methods. Most units are prescribed as low intensity burns that will create an irregular mosaic pattern and will not likely consume all available fuels.

For more information on the Rock Creek Ecosystem Maintenance Burning Project and to review the Final Decision Memo, visit fs.usda.gov/projects/lolo.