BILLINGS -- To create a more defensible space in case of a fire west of Red Lodge, the Forest Service is proposing a project to reduce hazardous fuels on about 390 acres along Ski Run Road and around Palisades Campground.

"Our concern is that we would get a fire down low and it would make a run uphill," said Drew Brown, supervisory forestry technician for the Beartooth Ranger District. "It just thins it out so a crown fire wouldn't continue through that area."

The project would begin this spring and continue for two to three years. Three subdivisions are at the base of Forest Service land where Willow Creek reaches the valley floor -- Mountain View, Canyon and Grizzly Peak. The drainage creates a "topographical corridor" from the subdivisions to Palisade Campground, Red Lodge Mountain Ski Resort and the Custer National Forest. The thinning project would also help prevent a wind-driven fire from coming down the West Fork of Rock Creek toward the subdivisions. The result would be trees spaced 10 feet from the farthest point of their crowns.

The thinning would be accomplished by post and pole harvest, permit-based bough cutting and noncommercial tree cutting.

The proposal also includes creating a Fire Management Zone along the ridge north of Palisade Campground.

This control line would utilize natural rock outcroppings or natural openings and would include fuel breaks and control lines for aerial retardant application in the event of a wildfire.

The work would be done using a small timber sale and/or Forest Service crews. The project is proposed for later this summer.

Comments on the projects should be received at the Beartooth Ranger District office by April 25 to be included in an environmental analysis.

For more information or to provide comments, contact the district at 6811 Highway 212 South, Red Lodge, MT 59068, phone 446-2103, or e-mail comments-northern-custer-beartooth@fs.fed.us.