Bridger Foothills Fire Natural Resource Recovery
By Lilly McLane
Partners Involved: Gallatin County Weed District, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, MSU Extension, Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Gallatin Conservation District
Geographic Scope: Bridger Foothills Fire burn perimeter
Project Budget: $170,000
Project Description:
On Sept. 4, 2020, a lightning strike smoldering just north of the “M” trail was fanned to flame. Due to extremely dry conditions and strong winds, the flame quickly became uncontrollable, charging upslope, billowing across the eastern flank of the Bridger Mountains. The Bridger Foothills fire consumed over 8,000 acres and 68 structures. Eighty-three percent of its path was on private land, and dozens of landowners were impacted, all with different lives and circumstances.
After a tremendous collaborative effort to fight and contain the fire, and evacuate residents living in the canyon and foothills, it came time to assess the damage and think about restoring and rebuilding peoples’ lives and the landscape. The story shared here is about natural resource recovery, and does not include the huge lift that was needed to help provide humanitarian relief.
Many partners worked together to allocate our collective capacity, funding, and knowledge to help private landowners combat erosion and weeds, stitching together grants, donations, and information. One Valley Community Foundation and the Greater Gallatin United Way raised community donations to create the Bridger Fire Relief Fund, passing $60,000 to the Gallatin Watershed Council (GWC) to address natural resource needs. The Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) was able to direct $25,000 from the USDA Environmental Quality Incentives Program, and the Gallatin Conservation District accessed $75,000 of the DNRC Environmental Contingency Account. The Gallatin County Weed District brought $10,000 from Gallatin County to match $10,000 earmarked from GWC’s allocation of the Bridger Fire Relief Fund. Technical support and invaluable knowledge and experience were lent by Montana State University Extension, the US Forest Service, and the Department Natural Resources and Conservation.
The Gallatin Watershed Council distributed Bridger Fire Relief funds according to identified priority areas: areas that were subject to “high severity burn,” based on an analysis done by the US Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response team. High severity burn areas are where the fire caused the most extensive damage to the vegetation and soils, and where the landscape is most susceptible to erosion. GWC focused on these areas because the creeks in these basins were at a high risk of excessive sediment loading and negatively impacting water quality and fish habitat in the downstream watershed. Funding allocations were calculated based on the percentage of total high severity burn area that occurred on each privately owned parcel, for impacts larger than 0.6 acres.
Although the NRCS, Weed District, and the Conservation District each had their own application processes, we all coordinated in an effort to make funding available to as many landowners as possible, while respecting privacy constraints. GWC sent a letter to all landowners within the burn perimeter indicating their eligibility for our funding pool, and providing contact information for the NRCS, the Weed District, and the Conservation District, as well as directing people to a compilation of resources on our website. Often, one of our groups would receive a phone call or email from a landowner, and based on their needs, we were able to redirect them to the most appropriate partner. The table below shows the capacity each partner brought to the effort and the recovery treatments their respective funding supported.
When a fire burns across a patchwork of private land, it is a different story than when it burns across Forest Service land. Or really, it is a lot of different stories, all with their own characters, plots, and timelines. Each private landowner’s circumstances was a major factor in their capacity to participate in natural resource recovery efforts. Especially in the wake of a fire that destroyed so many homes. For many, it was difficult to navigate the maze of potentially available funding, and the new and seemingly endless technical decisions to be made around logging, seeding, livestock management, and replanting.
It’s our hope that, together, we helped to create a healthier and more resilient landscape in the wake of the Bridger Foothills Fire. And the work is not finished. This story of collaboration has another chapter — another season. We are looking ahead, taking these experiences and this time of reflection to work with our partners, to do what we can to prevent mega-fires and protect our rivers and streams into the future.
A compilation of information about managing for mega-fire resistant landscapes and post fire natural resource recovery can be found here.
A version of this story was published in the Conservation Column of the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, and can be found here.