Firefighters with the U.S. Forest Service are preparing to conduct a number of prescribed burns on the Flathead National Forest this spring.
The controlled fires will be started when weather, fuel conditions and air quality is favorable and could result in visible smoke around the valley at times. The fires are started to reduce the potential for damaging wildland fires later in the year. Most of the fires will only burn grass, thick underbrush and downed trees.
Two of the largest prescribed fires will take place on the Tally Lake Ranger District west of Whitefish; firefighters plan to burn 30 acres near Beaver Lake and 180 acres near Logan Creek. Firefighters are also preparing 75 acres of land to burn on the aptly named Firefighter Mountain on the east side of the Hungry Horse Reservoir. There will also be numerous small burns and slash piles on the Swan Lake Ranger District and Hungry Horse Ranger District.
For precise prescribed fire ignition dates and times, follow our Facebook and Twitter profiles at https://www.facebook.com/discovertheflathead and https://twitter.com/FlatheadNF. General forest information can be found online at http://www.fs.usda.gov/flathead.