Wilderness access sharply reduced by fires

As fires bloom, the options to recreate in the Bob Marshall Wilderness are rapidly diminishing.

The Spotted Bear Ranger District will shut down the entire wilderness portion of the district because of fires and fire danger beginning Friday morning, fire information officer Al Koss said. That includes lands in both the Bob Marshall and the Great Bear wilderness areas.

The closure includes the Schafer Meadows Airstrip.

The nonwilderness portion remains open although Spotted Bear Campground is closed. Koss said wilderness rangers are giving people already in the backcountry a few days to get out of the area.

The decision came as at least 20 multiple fires burn in the district east of the Flathead Valley. One new fire, detected Wednesday is near Lena Lake in the wilderness. That fire is now 40 acres, forcing the closure of the Holland Lake Trailhead.

The Meadow Creek Trailhead also is closed due to fires.

On the other side of the mountains, meanwhile, the Rocky Mountain Ranger District has closed the Benchmark Trailhead as well as several trails up and down the Rocky Mountain Front due to fires.

The Benchmark Fire is about 50 acres, according to public information officer Wendy Clark. The Benchmark closure means three of the most-used trailheads into the Bob Marshall Wilderness are now closed.

The Benchmark Road is closed from the Benchmark Wilderness Ranch to the trailhead. An evacuation order is in place for dwellings in the area.

In Spotted Bear, outfitter ranches in the area have been fitted with sprinkler systems and a line was put around the Wilderness Ranch on the Meadow Creek Road, Koss said. The lodges in the area are privately owned but are on land leased from the Forest Service.

The Bear Creek Fire, the largest in the state at more than 28,000 acres, is working its way down to the Meadow Creek Road near Jungle Creek. Crews have created a shaded fuel break in the area to keep the fire from spreading east toward the Spotted Bear Ranger Station as well as the Spotted Bear Ranch and Diamond R Ranch.

The fires could gnarl hunting season in the backcountry.

Archery season starts Sept. 5 and general hunting season starts in the wilderness Sept. 15. Many outfitters rely on the hunting season for their livelihoods.