Helena National Forest

Elkhorns Wildlife Management Unit

Fire in the Elkhorns

Elkhorns: Elkhorns and Fire

Slim Sam wildfire of 2002

Prescribed fire in Crow Creek to enhance bighorn sheep habitat

Fires were a frequent occurrence in the Elkhorn Mountains before settlers arrived, and they still occur. Fires invigorate vegetation by removing buildups of downed trees, opening forested areas for other vegetation growth, and restoring nutrients back into soils. Not all fires are naturally caused. Prescribed burns (intentionally ignited by land managers) are used as a tool to renew vegetation and sustain diverse wildlife habitats.

For more informaiton on the role of fire in the Elkhorns, click here.

In 1998, the Elkhorn Fire Management Plan was completed, which is the first non-wilderness fire plan. This plan outlines the fire suppression strategies across the Elkhorn Mountains and includes an option, in some portions of the Elkhorns for carefully managing natural fire starts.

Natural start at the head of Eureka Creek in 2000 within the "wildland fire for resource benefits area"; fire danger regionally was too high to manage this fire and it was suppressed

ASPEN PROJECT The objectives of the project were to inventory all aspen stands in the Slim Sam watershed, to determine what was affecting aspen sprouting and survival, to treat some of the stands with fire or removing conifers, and to measure how aspen responds to various treatments.   PRESCRIBED FIRE MONITORING REPORT The Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in cooperation with Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MDFWP), undertook a landscape analysis of the southern portion of the Elkhorn Mountains , which was completed in 1996. The analysis area comprises approximately 80,000 acres of public lands managed by the Beaverhead-Deerlodge and Helena National Forests and the Butte Field Office, BLM.     WARM SPRINGS HABITAT ENHANCEMENT PROJECT - BIRDS & BURNS The USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station is leading the effort to examine fire effects on populations and habitats of wildlife in ponderosa pine forests in eight states across the western United States, including locations on National Forests, National Parks, and state and private lands .

Crews igniting a a prescribed burn in an aspen stand

USDA Forest Service - Helena National Forest
Last Modified: Monday, 18 April 2011 at 17:08:24 EDT