Welcome to the Bitterroot Valley

     did anyone tell you about wildfires?

One of the things that makes the valley such a great place to live
is our close proximity to nature.

The Ravalli County Residential/Wildland Interface Fire Task Force
wants you to know about fire in our natural environment and
how it may affect you, especially in the interface.

Are you saying there's a danger from wildfires? Yes

What is the interface?We call anyplace where human
habitation meets or intermixes with wild vegetation an
interface area. This could include grasslands or river-bottom
lands as well as the more obvious forested lands in the
foothills of the Sapphire and Bitterroot Mountians.

Aren't fires rare? No, The Bitterroot National Forest averages 250
wildfires per year. In fact, periodic fire is a natural part of our local
wildlands. Most wildfires are aggressively suppressed, and have been for
nearly 100 years.

So what's the problem? Materials that fuel wildfires have built up over the years and the forest has changed. Wildfires are becoming more difficult to suppress. At the same time more people are building homes farther into native vegetation in poorly accessible areas. Protecting these people and their homes in a wildfire may be impossible at times.

No protection! What do you mean? Task Force members believe that the best protection
is the work that has been done in advance of a wildfire.