By the Light of the Pines - The Role of Fire in Central Montana
Post by Clemson student Oliver Zerrillo
The landscape of central Montana outside of Roundup is littered with a mosaic of burns and ponderosa pine stands. Historically this landscape would have been shaped, in part by the native wildlife, but also by fire, burning often enough to manage the fuel levels on the ground. Now however, this landscape is shaped by the legacy of one hundred years of fire suppression. The stands are thicker than their historical ancestors, and the fuel has built up to a much higher level.
This legacy of fire suppression is something that we see across the country, even back in South Carolina, however it presents differently on this landscape. Back home trees have a value, whether it’s environmental, or monetary, there is a reason to want them on your land. Because of that, initially to me seeing the pines on the hills meant that this landscape had a higher value than the wide open grasslands that we visited to the north. However after speaking with local ranchers and DNRC now I see that these trees mean hassles and hazards. There are a number of different opinions in approaching this issue but two main ones act as the driving forces for the future of fire on this landscape.
The traditional view of fire as something to prevent and restrict as much as possible is still held by a number of ranchers. From an outside perspective this may seem an outdated mindset but it is important to consider the history of catastrophic wildfires in Montana and the dangers that fire inherently brings. These ranchers have grown up hearing stories of the ill impacts of fire from their parents and grandparents, take the infamous Mann Gulch fire for example; one mindset is that if that could occur next to the river, then why would fire be a good thing even further away where water is scarce. This mindset, while justified, does not seem to be sustainable for the landscape and the resources upon it.
A continuation of fire suppression on the landscape will only exaggerate the effects of conifer encroachment and the build up of fuels making each successive fire worse, and leading to the removal of more natural resources. That is the mindset of DNRC, their opinion in approaching this issue is to attempt to ease prescribed fire into the land management tool kit to help remove the fuels and reduce the number of trees across the landscape. This approach is backed by the science of fuel reduction and nutrient cycling to be a restorative way forward. Although the people across this landscape may disagree in regards to prescribed fire, there is one major agreement, and that is the importance of sustaining the grass, as it is the lifeblood of ranching in Montana.
This importance of sustaining the grass is what leads to the trees being seen as a hassle instead of something of value. Timber here is worth significantly less than back home in South Carolina, according to the DNRC workers we spoke to, pine sawtimber sells for $2 per ton here, and pulpwood is not even merchantable, instead sitting as piles of large slash to be burnt. This lack of value in the wood means that having a large amount of trees on the landscape can only serve to hinder a ranch, not help. These trees not only act as sources of fuel for a fire but also leave needles that can lead to failed pregnancies in cattle when consumed. When fires or high winds do rip through the area trees often fall, blocking roads and damaging fences. We went out with a ranchowner’s son to remove a number of trees that had fallen along their fence line and in doing so it became clear that these pines held nothing but problems for the landowners. These large piles of slash are the sources of big stand replacing catastrophic fires if burnt improperly, which is exactly what caused the last fire to have affected the area we roamed. All of these observations led back to the same conclusion; the importance of sustaining the grassland ecosystem, one that famously and historically lacks dense stands of trees. DNRC’s vision for the future of this area seems to be a real possibility. With changing opinions towards prescribed fire there may indeed be a time in the future where fires burn at a low intensity with a natural fuel level, helping to cycle nutrients, while the grasslands return to their sprawling open dominance once more.
