Welcome to the Bozeman Municipal Watershed
The Bozeman Municipal Watershed Fuels Reduction Project (BMW) is a joint effort between the City of Bozeman and Custer Gallatin National Forest which aims to reduce forest fuel loads. 100% of Bozeman’s water supply comes from our shared national forests, the BMW project is an effort to be good stewards of our forests and also maintain a high-quality, predictable water supply for Bozeman residents. The project will help protect Bozeman’s primary drinking water supply in and around the Bozeman and Hyalite Creek watersheds, it will provide for more defensible space in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), and just as critical – will increase public and firefighter safety.
0%
of Bozeman’s drinking water comes from the Bozeman Municipal Watershed.
0's
of people recreate in the Bozeman Municipal Watershed throughout the year.
0%
of the City of Bozeman’s municipal water comes from our National Forest land.
This Project Will
- Reduce the risk of severe and extensive wildfire in the lower portions of Hyalite and Bozeman Creeks.
- Limit the amount of sediment and ash entering the water treatment facilities in the event of a fire.
- Increase public and firefighter safety while reducing risk of wildfire spread, protecting private lands that border the watershed.
Goals + What to Expect
- Fuel reduction work using prescribed burning and tree thinning.
- Equipment (including logging trucks, helicopters, and other machinery) and hand-crews working on both City and National Forest lands.
- Smoke from prescribed burns may be visible at times.
- Temporary closures of roads or trails.
- Reduction work will began in earnest in the spring of 2021 and may continue for 2-10 years.