About 25 people joined Bureau of Land Management staff from the North Central Montana District

About 25 people joined Bureau of Land Management staff from the North Central Montana District Aug. 14 for a driving tour of recent prescribed fuels treatments in northern Petroleum County.

The tour led participants along an 80-mile loop through the Crooked Creek watershed, stopping at several sites where BLM experts discussed how they plan and conduct fuels treatments to reduce conifer encroachment and achieve optimal outcomes that improve land health for both wildlife and human use.

BLM staff also provided information about the South Phillips Sage-Grouse Habitat Improvement and Fuels Reduction project, a new project currently in the early planning stages. It features terrain and vegetation conditions similar to what was treated in the Crooked Creek to improve sage-grouse habitat.

Treatment for the South Phillips project will likely employ similar fuels-treatment methods to help reduce conifer encroachment, improve sage-grouse habitat and develop a landscape more resilient to wildfires. The South Phillips project is part of the Hi-Line Sagebrush Anchor Restoration Landscape that partners with the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance and other organizations to complete on-the-ground conservation projects.

A more-detailed description of the proposed project and related maps are available on the BLM's ePlanning website - https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2033606/510. Planning will include an environment assessment to analyze impacts. The public scoping period is currently open through August.

The BLM's fuels management program is focused on active management to reduce wildfire risk, improve wildfire resiliency and promote fire-adapted communities. The program includes creating fuel breaks to provide safe access for firefighters, reducing fuel loads by removing ladder fuels and reducing fire risk near communities. Fuels management projects consider the full scope of work – planning, implementation and monitoring – needed to achieve a coordinated landscape approach. https://www.blm.gov/programs/public-safety-and-fire/fire/fuels-management.