Glacier Park plans two prescribed burns this spring

Glacier National Park plans to undertake two prescribed burn projects this spring in the park’s North Fork region.

During periods between April 25 and May 15 when weather and fuel conditions are favorable, the park will initiate burns in the Big Prairie area about 3.5 miles northwest of Polebridge and an area near Sullivan Meadow along the Inside North Fork Road.

The project area could include up to 303 acres in Big Prairie and up to 46 acres along the Inside North Fork Road.

Park officials said the prescribed burns are intended to reduce the number of lodgepole pine seedlings and saplings, which they said are encroaching on native prairie grassland and stands of ponderosa pine.

“Historic photos reveal fewer trees and more open stands of large pines due to fires that periodically burned the area,” the park said. “Fescue grasses also benefit from periodic burn cycles to remove dead fuel and release nutrients.”

Park managers hope to reduce the number of young lodgepole pines, while improving the vigor of the native grasses, shrubs and ponderosa pine trees. The burns are not meant to eradicate lodgepole pines from the prairie and mature stands of ponderosa pines, but are intended instead to reduce the number of small diameter pine trees.

The park said the burns will proceed only if optimum weather and “smoke dispersal parameters” are met.

Visitors and local residents might see smoke related to the fires during the targeted period.

Glacier National Park said it last managed burn projects for Big Prairie and the Inside North Fork Road in 2014 and 2015, respectively.