The Missoula Ranger District is planning two separate prescribed burns on Wednesday, May 10. Lolo National Forest Spokesman Boyd Hartwig says both locations are adjacent to Missoula and some folks might notice some smoke in the air.

“So that is a fuel reduction project, it is about 80 acres,” said Hartwig. “We probably will ignite it in the afternoon. It is a relatively small project, but smoke will be visible certainly from Missoula. There should be minimal impact to the public in terms of roads and trail impact, but we wanted to let folks know about it.”

According to Hartwig, the cool and wet spring has affected some other burning opportunities.

”They just wouldn’t get enough ignition to carry the fire in order to accomplish the objectives for the day,” Hartwig said. “It is kind of a narrow window that they look at. It has to be dry enough, but not too dry. The weather of course has to be right in terms of winds, smoke dispersion and that sort of thing.”

One of the prescribed burns will take place just north of Missoula in Butler Creek. The other burn will be to the west of Missoula within the Blue Mountain Recreation Area.

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