Collaboration across boundaries in Montana. The Darby School, Darby, Montana Success Stories 2004 Thompson Falls Burn PDF 262 KB USDA Forest Service crews underburned a 43 acre area within 50 feet of houses, a Montnan Fish, Wildlife and Parks office and numerous houses and downtown Thompson Falls, Montana. Success Stories 2003 2003 DOI and USDA State Summary: Montana PDF 85 KB Restoration and Rehabiltation - Gallatin National Forest PDF 284 KB The Gallatin National Forest completes watershed rehabilitation project. Road re-conturing Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation (BAER) work for the Purdy Fire was very effective in reducing erosion along two miles of closed road. Hazardous Fuels Reduction - Scapegoat Wilderness Prescribed Burn PDF 136 KB On a gorgeous, cloudless fall day, the Rocky Mountain Ranger District of the Lewis and Clark National Forest took the first giant step in lighting the South Fork Sun River Prescribed Burn; a project in the planning and coordination stages for over eight years. Firefighting Resources - Helena National Forest Taker Base/Helena Regional Airport Celebration PDF 188 KB The Tanker Base was built last fall and completed this spring, utilizing National Fire Plan funding, to provide aerial fire suppression capabilities for central and eastern Montana. Rehabilitation and Restoration - Hidden Lake Fire Recovery Efforts PDF 169 KB A team of Forest Service scientists looks at work that needs to be done at the Hidden Lake Fire, 30 miles northwest of Dillon, Montana. Hazardous Fuels Reduction - Cedar Flats Demonstration Project PDF 173 KB The goal of the project was to show that ecosystem management can result in both a healthy environment and a sustainable economy and to continue to demonstrate the power of inclusive public process to effectively engage citizens in resolving their shared problems. Hazardous Fuels Reduction - Happy Valley Fuels Reduction Project PDF 201 KB This project was created to demonstrate some of the different treatments that can be used to reduce fire hazards and improve forest health. Hazardous Fuels Reduction - Holbrook Fuel Reduction Project PDF 267 KB The Tally Lake Ranger District Fire and Fuels Crew cleared brush and small trees near homes and Big Mountain ski resort. These trees and brush were piled and burned during the winter when risks of fire is elimiated by snowfall. Hazardous Fuels Reduction - Hungry Horse to West Glacier Program for Landowners PDF 170 KB The Hungry Horse Ranger District, of the Flathead National Forest, selected the communities of Coram, Hungry Horse, and West Glacier, Montana, for hazardous fuels reduction projects. The objective is to reduce the fuel loading and tree stem density, thereby decreasing the potential for a severe crown fire and allowing for more effective direct and indirect fire suppression tactics. Hazardous Fuels Reduction - Fuel Reduction Projects Around Helena, Montana, are a Success PDF 200 KB The Tri-County Fire Working Group encompassess Lewis and Clark, Jefferson, and Broadwater Counties, surrounding Helena, Montana. The Tri-County Working Group along with the Lewis and Clark County Prevention and Mitigation Program Coordinator has completed working on over 300 homes within 17 fire jurisdictions around Helena to make them defensible to wildland fire. Hazardous Fuels Reduction - Cabinet Ranger Station Interface Project PDF 300 KB This is an ongoing project to reduce brush, space trees, and underburn the area surrounding the compound, residential area, and into the urban interface around the Cabinet Ranger District. Hazardous Fuels Reduction - Elk Creek Fuel Reduction Project PDF 221 KB The Cabinet Ranger District, Kootenai National Forest, has slashed, handpiled, and burned piles on 44.3 acres, broadcast burned 544 more acres, and underburned 131 acres using aerial ignition, in the Elk Creek drainage just outside of Heron, Montana. Hazardous Fuels Reduction - Good Creek Landscape Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) PDF 196 KB The Good Creek EIS covers approximatley 72,000 acres, some of which is within the Star Meadow community, Flathead, county. Over 6,000 acres of fuels reduction treatments are proposed in the EIS. Firefighting Resources on the Lewis & Clark National Forest PDF 110 KB The Rocky Mountain Ranger District, Lewis and Clark National Forest, was able to build bunkhouses for the for the firefighters in Choteau and Augusta, Montana, thanks to the Nationl Fire Plan. Hazardous Fuels Reduction - Fire Wise Communities PDF 272 KB The Libby Ranger District in a cooperative effort with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Lincoln County, Libby Rural Fire District, Emkyan Village Homeowner's Association, and local contractors work on a FireWise fuels mitigation project. National Fire Plan (NFP) Economic Action Grant Bolsters the Community of Superior, Montana PDF 142 KB With a National Fire Plan Economic Action grant of $100,000, the Eureka Pellet Mill uses wood waste, hires nine new employees, and establishs a large distribution of bagged pellets to Walmart and Home Depot. Block A Fuels Treatment on the Kootenai National Forest PDF 171 KB Fuels were thinned and mechanically piled by a conractor with National Fire Plan funds. Bookstore Fuels Treatment on the Kootenai National Forest PDF 203 KB The project demonstrates working to reduce hazardous fuels in the wildland urban interface (WUI) and improve forest health. In Troy, Montana, Chapel Cedar Knows the Meaning of Community (Economic Action Montana) PDF 130 KB The small family owned business of Chapel Cedar will help businesses manufacture specialized, high value wood products, like cabinetry, flooring, molding, and decorative finishing. NFP Funded Project on the Kootenai National Forest (Phil's Lake Fuels Treatment) PDF 471 KB The Rexford and Fortine Ranger District crews thinned fuels and a contractor mechanically piled the slash on the Phils Lake project. Living on the Edge - FireSMART Wagon PDF 157 KB The Fire Works Wagon will help share proactive ideas with current and new landowners on how to reduce their risks from wildland fires. Darby, Montana, Community Public Library (Breaking New Ground) PDF 175 KB The community of Darby, Montana, with the help of the USDA Forest Service's Forest Products Lab and State and Private Forestry, built a new 5,000 square foot library out of small diameter wood. Success Stories 2002 2002 DOI and USDA State Summary: Montana PDF 65 KB Snapshots: Successes of Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Forest Service, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and Private Landowners Hazardous Fuels Projects PDF 182 KB Both the Forest Service, BLM, and private landowners participated in the prescribed burning, while the BLM and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks provided study plots to measure the effects of fire on important vegetation. Thinning for Forest Health, Hazardous Fuels Reduction, Funding for Wyoming Rural Fire Departments PDF 766 KB The BLM and the Forest Service start a four-year program of fuel treatment using both mechanical treatment and burning in the Elkhorn Mountains. Thinning for Forest Health and Hazardous Fuels Reduction progresses in a campground near Landusky, Montana. The BLM will be working with the Wyoming Wildland Fire Plan Action Team, a joint county, state, and federal agency, to distribute funds. Community Assistance Bio Control Enterprise and Education Project PDF 222 KB State and Private Forestry and the Townsend School District funded the BioControl and Enterprise Project, known locally as the "Bug Ranch." Other partners include Broadwater County Extension Office and Weed District, Montana State University Western Agriculture Center, Jim Larson of Stillwater County GIS/Weed District Education, and Todd Breitenfeldt science teacher and insectary coordinator at the Whitehall High School, Whitehall, Montana. Community Assistance - Partners Work Together to Improve Watershed PDF 191 KB Broadwater County, the Conservation District, private landowners, Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the Helena National Forest joined together to form the South Belts Watershed Working Group. They sought to assess the effects of the 2000 Maudlow-Toston Wildfire that consumed approximately 90,000 acres. Fire Fighting Resources - Fire Positions Funded by National Fire Plan (NFP) on the Kootenai National Forest PDF 180 KB The NFP is helping to ensure the retention of well trained and experienced fire personnel for the future by funding leadership positions and making previously temporary seasonal positions into permanent positions. Community Assistance - Trout Creek Annual Huckleberry Festival PDF 200 KB The National Fire Plan display was the center of the Huckleberry Fesitval this year. The Cabinet Ranger District had a parade entry with a fire engine, Smokey Bear, and Woodsy Owl and also staffed a tent with various displays. Community Assistance - New Fire Truck for McCone County, Montana PDF 134 KB One National Fire Plan grant helped two rural fire districts build a new fire truck. An interagency effort between the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fish and Wildlife Service, and the USDA Forest Service made the project possible. Community Assistance - Helping Rural Fire Districts in Montana PDF 144KB "This truck will enable us to get more crew members to the fire line in one vehicle, with the equipment we need for various tasks. We are planning for this truck to be with the department for a long time to come!" Leonard Eickhoff, Fire Chief, Winnett Volunteer Fire Department 09/12/02. Fire Fighting Resources - Lincoln Ranger District Fire Warehouse PDF 127 KB The Helena National Forest recently completed construction of the new Lincoln fire warehouse. The engine bay, with two garage doors, is big enough to house a Type 4 and a Type 6 engine at one end of the building. Rehabilitation - Historic Bar Gulch Cabin Rebuilt PDF 239 KB The Bar Gulch Cabin was built in approximately 1930. During the 2000 wildfire the Forest Resource Team saved the cabin by wrapping it with a special shelter used to protect structures. Sula Peak Lookout Rebuilt After the Fires of 2000 PDF 152 KB National Fire Plan funds helping rebuild the Sula Peak Lookout destroyed in the fires of 2000 on the Bitterroot National Forest. Devasting Wildfire Prevention PDF 245 KB Bitterroot National Forest helps 41 local landowners reduce fuels on 850 acres with NFP funding. Building Community Support and Commitment PDF 150 KB The Big Timber Ranger District, Gallatin Natinal Forest, engaged local community members in planning a multifaceted fuels reduction project. Reducing the Threat of Wildfire PDF 703 KB Kootenai National Forest, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservations (DNRC), and Lincoln county resisdents work together thinning and burning in the wildland urban interface. Mill Retraining in Montana through a Forest Service Grant PDF 188 KB The National Fire Plan, the Economic Action Program through State and Private Forestry, low-interest government loans, and some generous lenders in the community, helped save Pyramid Mountain Lumber Company, a large employer in Seeley Lake, Montana. Seed Collection for Reforestation and Restoration PDF 287 KB The Bitterroot, Helena, and Lolo National Forests of the Northern Region collect approximately 2,500 pounds of ponderosa pine, western larch, western white pine, and Douglas-fir seeds. Stewardship Contracting Field Visit in Idaho and Montana PDF 1162 KB Congressional staffers take a field trip to Idaho and Montana to learn how contracting authority works and how it is implemented on the ground. Post Fire Bark Beetle Infestations PDF 197 KB The Bitterroot National Forest is using criteria developed from research to determine which infested trees will likely die from beetle attacks. Bitterroot National Forest Burned Area Recovery Hazardous Fueld Reduction PDF 245 KB Treatments are being accomplished using traditional timber sale contracts, stewardship contracts, and firewood sales Collaboratoin with Communities PDF 127 KB Using National Fire Plan grants, private landowners, fire departments, civic groups, city and county governments, and state and federal agencies, are working together to develop the Bitterroot Valley Community-based Wildland Fire Mitigation Plan. Cooperative Solutions in Hazardous Fuels Reduction PDF 204 KB Private foresters and State and Private Forestry consultants worked together to design a boundary-less presription near Bill Springer Memorial Park community near the Bitterroot National Forest. Bitterroot National Forest State and Private Forestry Fencing Initiative PDF 274 KB Through the grant program 91 miles of fencing have been repaired or replaced. Burned Area Recovery Project Implementation Monitoring PDF 284 KB In addition to monitoring at a project's completion, monitoring "during" a project implementation can spot problems as they develop. Bitterroot National Forest Burned Area Road Decommissioning PDF 231 KB Road rehabilitation workers seed and mulch an obliterated road surface. Reforestation and Restoration PDF 247 KB In 25 days the Bitterroot National Forest planted nearly a million seedlings (ponderosa pine, Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine, wentern larch,and Englemann spruce)on over 3,000 acres. Research - Bitterroot National Forest PDF 210 KB Before the smoke had even cleared in the fall of 2000, researchers were gathering maps and designing analysis methods to collect information about the fires' effects on wildlife, fisheries, soils, debris flows, vegetation, fire behavior, human resources, and other ecosystem components. New Fire Facilities on the Bitterroot National Forest PDF 174 KB The Stevensville and the Darby Ranger Districts have new fire warehouses. The new facilities will assist land managers and firefighters in preparing for and fighting wildland fires in the Bitterroot valley. Community Assistance - Painted Rocks Fire District PDF 183 KB The Painted Rocks Fire District, in Ravalli County, received $10,000 for a new repeater through Foreest Service Volunteer Fire Assistance and DOI's Rural Fire Assistance programs. Painted Rocks serves an area of 200 square miles. Updated December 2004

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