Kalispell, MT – October 4, 2021 – The Tally Lake Ranger District is planning to prescribe burn areas directly
adjacent to the Whitefish Mountain Resort on Tuesday. The smoke from these burns will be highly visible from
around the Flathead Valley.
Careful evaluations of environmental conditions such as weather, relative humidity, fuel moistures, and smoke
dispersion have aligned for the opportunity to successfully achieve the desired objectives for prescribed fire in
these units.
Units to the east of Whitefish Mountain Resort were approved in the Whitefish Municipal Watershed Fuel
Reduction Project in 2017. The purpose of these burns is to protect the municipal watershed by introducing
controlled fire that would reduce the chance for high intensity wildfire in the future. The prescribed fire unit to the
west of Whitefish Mountain Resort was approved in the Taylor Hellroaring Project in 2019. This unit would
reduce the risk and severity of large-scale stand-replacing fire next to an electronic site. In addition to these
protections, all units would increase resilience to insect and disease, improve wildlife species habitat, and aid in
the restoration of whitebark pine.
These controlled burns will utilize a helicopter equipped with a helitorch, a device that drops fire into the area to
be burned, to accomplish ignition. Firefighters will be on scene to monitor and ensure the fire stays within the
control perimeter.
A temporary closure order will be in effect surrounding the burns on the east side of the resort. This will include
a portion of the Danny On Trail #370 (see map for closure area).
Tally Lake District Ranger Bill Mulholland will be available from 1:00-5:00 at Depot Park in Whitefish to answer
questions and give updates on burn progress. Additional information can also be obtained by calling the Tally
Lake Ranger Station at (406) 758-5204.
Please monitor our social media sites for updated information at https://www.facebook.com/discovertheflathead
and https://twitter.com/FlatheadNF. General Forest information can be found online at
http://www.fs.usda.gov/flathead.