Wildfires represent a threat to communities across the country, including those in Northwest Montana.  

Montana is one of two states where at least 50% of structures are at risk from wildfire, according to a January report from LendingTree, which analyzed data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. More than 97,196 structures were destroyed by wildfires in the U.S. between 2005 and 2022, according to data compiled by Headwaters Economics.  

In Northwest Montana, the private and public sectors are working together to help people prepare for the worst. There are several programs that provide financial assistance for those looking to make wildfire defensible space on their property.  

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation offers a free home wildfire risk assessment, where a local fire professional will come assess the home and the immediate surrounding area. 

The Forestry Assistance Program from Montana West Economic Development and Flathead Electric Co-op helps match funds or pay for the clearing of vegetation around a property.  

MWED President and CEO Christy Cummings Dawson said she believes it’s a great tool for private property owners to be able to offset the cost of prepping for fire. The program has different state and federal funding streams, but the largest is the Community Wildfire Defense grant, which was received in partnership with Flathead Electric Co-op.  

The grant was designed to help at-risk communities plan for and reduce wildfire risk. To date, 34% of the wildfire defense grant funds have reached low-capacity communities compared to only 4% of funds from FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, which has a more typical and onerous federal application process, according to a January report from Headwater Economics. 

“It really does make it accessible to people who maybe couldn’t either do the work themselves or couldn’t afford to hire someone to come in and do that work for them ... It’s the philosophy of trying to get this work done upfront to help minimize the amount of loss, or prevent the loss, ideally,” Cummings Dawson said.  

Estimates for the economic effects of wildfire vary widely based on the duration, severity and size of the fire, according to a 2022 report from the Congressional Budget Office. The report listed an estimate from a 2017 literary review that put annual wildfire costs at $37 billion to $88 billion nationally (in 2020 dollars.) That range includes the value of structures damaged or destroyed, the lost value of timber, forgone tax revenues, the impact on housing prices and the costs to evacuate, according to the report. 

A defensible space is a buffer around a structure where vegetation is modified to reduce the risk of wildfire and provide an opportunity for firefighters to defend the structure.  

While it’s mostly homeowners who utilize MWED’s program, Cummings Dawson said there have been some businesses who saw an opportunity to prepare for wildfire.  

Denny Gignoux, owner and manager of Glacier Guides and Montana Raft, said there have been some intense wildfire years in the West Glacier area since the business started in 1983, notably 2001 and 2003. The Robert Fire burned 57,570 acres near that area in 2003, according to the Glacier Park Foundation. 

“You can never be prepared enough, so it’s a constant process,” Gignoux said. “It’s going to give a little bit more setback space against our buildings and on our property lines. It will help us protect our neighbors and to help us protect our structures.” 

This has involved saving the strong healthy trees and clearing out the less healthy ones, as well as climax species like lodgepole pine, which thrive in fire and can slowly take over areas of forest.  

Gignoux said the grant for this work was $2,000, which didn’t cover the full cost of the job, but was enough to minimize cost. He recommends the program to others looking to prepare their property for wildfire.  

“I think wildfire in western Montana is something to be taken very seriously and it’s important to make sure that you space out your property. And that you work to be a good neighbor by making sure that you have downed your dead and climaxed tree species,” Gignoux said.  

Of the $10 million from the Wildfire Community Defense Grant, Flathead Electric Co-op received some direct funds to do vegetation management on the power lines from Columbia Falls to West Glacier, according to Communications and Marketing Supervisor Courtney Stone. The other portion, which is managed by MWED, is used to reimburse cooperative members for forestry work done on private property. 

“We were successful in part because of the fact that we’re community earned, and we partnered with another community-centered entity to bring those funds home to the valley,” Stone said.  

She said that even though the bulk of the work is being done between Columbia Falls and West Glacier, the preparation benefits all members of the co-op, not just those in that area.  

“Everybody who’s a member of Flathead Electric from here to Libby is paying on that system. So, if we have a disaster strike like a wildfire, we’re all going to be left holding the bag,” Stone said. “And Flathead Electric is not for profit. Our pockets are only as deep as the community’s pockets. So anytime we could improve any part of the system and bring down a risk for some specific numbers, we’re bringing down risk for all members.” 

Some of the largest fires in U.S. history can be drawn back to electric company’s equipment failures or downed powerlines. Stone said as the risks of wildfire have increased and more of these catastrophic incidents have occurred, Flathead Electric Co-op has invested even more time and resources into protecting against wildfire. 

From 2019 through 2024, Flathead Electric saw a 332% increase in the funds allocated to its vegetation management budget. It’s part of the Wildfire Mitigation Plan, used by co-ops and companies to help strategically prepare for fire and guard against ignition starts. Most of that work includes pruning vegetation and keeping it away from power lines.  

“Under our wildfire mitigation plan, we have a 10-year cycle where every part of the service area is scheduled to get maintenance ... The service area is the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined, so we’re talking an incredible amount of work to be done each year,” Stone said.  

After the partnership with MWED, Stone said she was one of the first to use the program to better understand how it worked from a member’s perspective. She was impressed and said it’s an easy way to be a good neighbor and get started on guarding property against wildfire.  

“One of the things that I really love about Northwest Montana is that community sense, that it’s not just you against the forest, right? The forest doesn’t know property lines,” Stone said. “It’s you and your neighbors coming together to make good decisions to bring down that risk.”  

Reporter Taylor Inman can be reached by emailing tinman@dailyinterlake.com. 

    An Aero-Flite CL415 Super Scooper passes over Lake Mary Ronan during a period of intense activity in the Elmo 2 Fire Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 3. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake)