VIDEO: The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest covers almost 3 million acres across central Montana. Leaders say much of that forest land carries more fuel – and more wildfire risk – than it should. “Historically on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, about 100,000 acres would have burned every year,” said forest supervisor Emily Platt. “If you combine the fuels management work we currently do and the wildfire acres that currently burn, it’s less than half of what historically burned.”
Platt says that’s the reason for a new “Forestwide Prescribed Fire Project.” This week, the forest officially introduced its draft decision to move forward with the project, which could cover hundreds of thousands of acres over the next twenty years. The project area covers 2.3 million acres, excluding wilderness and certain other specific regions. Leaders are looking to thin out smaller trees and use prescribed burning on up to 40,000 acres a year, through 2045. “When you’re able to do this fuels work, your forest is more likely to withstand a wildfire and live through it,” said Platt.
