New fire policy discussed

The Daily Inter Lake

The Hungry Horse District of the Flathead National Forest is hosting an open house today in Essex to share information about and discuss "wildland fire for resource benefit" on the forest outside wilderness areas.

The open house will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Signal Room of the Izaak Walton Inn.

Wildland fire for resource benefit is the management of naturally ignited wildland fires to meet specific resource objectives, a practice that has long been used only in wilderness areas.

This season, the forest plans to selectively use naturally ignited fire in suitable areas in the Middle Fork Flathead drainage, mostly at higher elevations adjacent to the Great Bear Wilderness, on the south side of U.S. 2.

"Not all fires started by lightning will be managed as wildland fire for resource benefit," said Hungry Horse-Glacier View District Ranger Jimmy DeHerrera. "A decision to use naturally ignited fire as a tool for resource management objectives will be made carefully and only under certain conditions."

The Flathead National Forest has been successful using wildland fire for resource benefit as a tool to help restore forest health and reduce the risk of catastrophic fire in the Bob Marshall and Great Bear Wilderness Areas for the past two decades.

The public open house will be an opportunity to discuss wildland fire for resource benefit with DeHerrera and other Flathead National Forest fire management specialists. For more information or to view a map identifying areas planned for wildland fire use management this season, contact the Hungry Horse District at 387-3800.