Prescribed burns planned in several forest locations

The Swan Lake Ranger District will carry out multiple prescribed burns over the next few days.

The burns are being conducted when weather, fuel conditions and air quality are favorable. It’s expected that smoke will be visible from the Flathead Valley.

The first burn got under way Monday on Blacktail Mountain, focusing on logging slash over a 310-acre area. Burning also was planned for about 22 acres on nearby Kerr Mountain.

The district plans a burn on about 128 acres of mid- to upper-elevation brush and conifers on Haskill Mountain.

There will be separate burns on about 500 acres on Crane Mountain. The burns will be carried out on units in the Estes Lake, Hunger Creek and Crane Creek areas.

A total of 1,036 acres will be treated in the Swan Valley’s Piper Creek drainage  during different phases this spring and fall. There may be temporary closures during burn activity, including the Piper Creek Trail 119.

More burns will be carried out in the Meadow and Smith Creek area of the Swan Valley.

There will be a variety of logging slash pile burns at various locations in the Swan Valley and the Blacktail Mountain area.

All of the burns are carried under a Prescribed Fire Plan, with the projects being located and designed to be controlled and avoid escaped wildland fires and other adverse effects. The projects are coordinated with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to reduce smoke impacts.