Greetings, Flathead Beacon readers! Maggie Dresser here, and while I realize it’s Thursday, I’m still recovering from the long Memorial Day Weekend, which signaled the unofficial launch of summer as local agencies prepare for a busy season that typically persists through Labor Day.

Flathead National Forest (FNF) officials last week told county commissioners during a quarterly meeting that crews have been successfully clearing substantial blowdown from roads and campgrounds following a violent windstorm over the winter. 

The December windstorm blew 70 mph gusts through the valley with 90 mph gusts clocked at high elevations, leaving 31,000 Flathead Electric Cooperative members without power. Agencies continue assessing the damage months later as crews continue cleaning up the mess.

Rob Davies, the FNF’s district ranger overseeing the Hungry Horse and Glacier View districts, told commissioners the high volume of blowdown has added 3,000 cubic feet to existing timber sales. Highly concentrated areas of downed trees near roads including the Coal Bank Creek area up the North Fork drainage, Firefighter Mountain on the east side of the Hungry Horse Reservoir and the Spotted Bear airstrip were added to contracts.

“Altogether, we have about 250 acres accessible near roads,” Davies said. “It’s pretty concentrated and we think it’s marketable, so we’re going to try and move quickly.”

Wildland firefighters have already been running chainsaws for months as crews are consistently dispatched to clear trails and roads in the FNF while heavy equipment rentals and collaborations with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) have improved efficiency.

“The access is pretty good, but we keep discovering more blowdown,” Davies said. 

FNF Fire Management Officer Rick Connell told commissioners the 150-person fire team is preparing for the wildfire season with resources that are “really well-staffed” compared to years prior.

Connell said forecasts are calling for an average fire season locally despite the dwindling snowpack in the Flathead River Basin, which as of today held snow water equivalent levels at 83% of normal. The Kootenai River Basin’s levels are at 60%.

“We have been lucky with the rain lately,” Connell said. “The snowpack was troublesome this winter but it’s more the mid-elevations – that’s really the piece to be watching as we move into the season. The snow is part of the equation, but what we get for precipitation in April, May and June really drives things.”

Connell recalled a conversation with experts at the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab years ago and said discussions surrounding climate change are drawing parallels with weather conditions he’s observed in recent years.

“It’s funny – six or so years ago, I talked to some of the fire guys at the climate lab and asked them about all this climate change stuff and what that really might mean for us in our part of the world, and one of the things they said – which is really kind of true this year – is we would see less snow in the winter and more summer rain,” Connell said. “We saw a little bit of that last summer and we’re seeing a little snow. So, we’ll see if the rain comes.”

Dry storms accompanied by lighting coming out of the Southwest and the Great Basin are typically the main culprit for natural wildfire starts in northwest Montana. But if wet storms become the new trend, Connell said there’s a lower likelihood for ignitions.

Connell cautioned that it’s always challenging to predict the fire season with so many variables at play, however, the amount of precipitation that falls over the next six weeks will reveal more clues.

“If you could tell me what the huckleberries will look like in August, then I can tell you what the fire season [will look like],” Connell said.

Here’s the rest of the Daily Roundup.