Montana's 2025 fire season is expected to cost taxpayers between $50 and $70 million, making it one of the most expensive wildfire suppression efforts in state history despite burning relatively few acres. The steep costs were driven largely by the complex Windy Rock Fire near Drummond, which alone accounted for approximately $56 million in suppression expenses.
According to state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) officials who briefed the Environmental Quality Council on October 23, a total of 2,303 fires burned 75,000 acres across Montana this year. While this represents one of the lowest acreages burned in state history—a fact Governor Greg Gianforte has repeatedly praised DNRC for achieving—the financial cost per acre has reached unprecedented levels.
The Windy Rock Fire, located about 17 miles from Drummond, became the season's most expensive suppression effort at approximately $56 million for a fire that burned just 6,175 acres. The fire started on August 14 and required personnel assigned to it well into October, making it likely among the most costly suppression efforts in Montana's history. The state's 10-year annual average for firefighting costs typically runs around $30 million, according to DNRC official Wyatt Frampton.
"Given prolonged staffing that we had into October and some ongoing significant expenses associated with special activities, we don't have a firm resolution for you yet on those final estimates for fire season cost," Frampton told the committee. The total costs may change as they don't include Fire Management Assistance Grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and finalized numbers can take months or even years to determine.
The Windy Rock Fire originated on Bureau of Land Management property and quickly became complicated due to rocky, steep terrain and threats to approximately 175 residences. Dead and down fuels from a past Mountain Pine Beetle outbreak posed additional challenges, and the fire's location near a Wilderness Study Area and Backcountry Conservation Area required special operational considerations. The incident drew massive air tankers to Helena Regional Airport that performed aerial attacks for a week in late August.
Governor Gianforte visited the fire's command post on August 25, the same day Northwest Team 2 took command from state resources, declaring that "we've pursued a policy of aggressive attack on all fires." According to reporting by The Hotshot Wakeup, Montana's use of fire retardant increased dramatically from 400,000 gallons to more than 1 million gallons in a single week during this period.
The high costs and low acreage burned have raised questions about the state's wildfire suppression approach. Under Montana Code Annotated 76-13-104, DNRC is required to perform aggressive initial attack on all fires and keep them as small as possible. The department's fire management manual emphasizes protecting land, property and natural resources while prioritizing the safety of firefighters and the public.
Legislators are examining wildfire policy as part of a state study on suppression costs, amid new research suggesting forests might not be as dense as previously believed—findings that contradict much of American fire policy. The debate centers around fire mitigation practices including logging, thinning and prescribed fires, which remain controversial among environmental groups.
Research ecologist Chad Hanson, co-founder of the John Muir Project, argues that "pretty much everything that we've been told about fire in our forests is incorrect, scientifically." Hanson and fellow researchers have authored studies challenging U.S. Forest Service research on forest density, claiming federal studies omitted data showing historical forests were more variable than suggested.
The controversy extends to federal legislation like Senator Tim Sheehy's Fix Our Forest Act, which would make it easier for land management agencies to conduct thinning and prescribed burn operations. Environmental groups argue these so-called thinning operations open the door to major logging projects in national forests. Sheehy himself founded Bridger Aerospace, an aerial firefighting company, creating potential conflicts of interest.
A 2020 Montana Forest Action Plan found 3.8 million acres of the state's forests in greatest need of attention, with less than 100,000 acres per year being treated at that time. By 2024, the Forest Service reported conducting hazardous fuels reduction work on 200,000 acres of Montana forest, while the Bureau of Land Management conducted approximately 38,000 acres of prescribed burns.
State officials maintain that active forest management through mechanical thinning and prescribed fire remains crucial for reducing wildfire risk and severity. According to DNRC, 85% of Montana's forests face increased wildfire risk, with historical fires characterized by frequent, low-intensity burns every 5 to 30 years that maintained open forest structures.
"What we're doing right now is we're changing a culture like people have been taught to be afraid of fire, as opposed to something that's a natural part of our landscape," said Tim Rochell, a prescribed fire expert with Missoula County. "And I think we're slowly starting to change that." The debate over Montana's expensive fire season continues as legislators prepare to revisit wildfire policy when the session resumes in January.
