← Montana burn ban rules›Current Fire Restrictions
Montana Current Fire Restrictions (2026)
Conditional: Montana issues fire restrictions per land-management unit (county, national forest, BLM district, FWP site) — there is no single statewide Stage, and the Stage can differ between landowner classes inside the same county.
Montana issues fire restrictions per land-management unit (county, national forest, BLM district, FWP site) — there is no single statewide Stage, and the Stage can differ between landowner classes inside the same county. Restrictions have kept easing: Montana DNRC's official Active Fire Restrictions layer (units edited as recently as October 6, 2026) shows NO unit at Stage 2, 12 units at STAGE 1 (down from 15 on October 2, 2026, 17 on September 30, 2026 and 57 on September 18, 2026), 516 units carrying no restrictions or closures and 3 units with no restriction recorded. On October 6, 2026, 3 units came off Stage 1: the Montana FWP sites in MADISON COUNTY and in HILL COUNTY, and state forest land of DNRC's Central Land Office in BEAVERHEAD COUNTY. Every Stage 1 unit now sits in 1 of 5 counties inside 3 DNRC areas (Dillon, Lewistown and Miles City). The 12 Stage 1 units are: CARTER COUNTY — Custer Gallatin National Forest, state forest and state non-forest land, private forest and private non-forest land, and Montana FWP sites; RICHLAND COUNTY — state and private non-forest land and Montana FWP sites; BEAVERHEAD COUNTY — Bureau of Reclamation land only; HILL COUNTY — Bureau of Reclamation land only; and PHILLIPS COUNTY — Bureau of Reclamation land only. Confirm the exact unit and ownership, not just the county. Under Stage 1: no building, maintaining or using a campfire except in an agency-provided ring at a developed recreation site, and no smoking except inside a vehicle or building, at a developed site, or while stopped in a cleared area at least 3 feet across; devices fueled solely by LPG/propane with a shut-off valve are allowed. Federal units set their own orders: the Lolo National Forest rescinded its Stage 2 fire restrictions effective September 2, 2026 (forest news release of September 1, 2026). Year-round wildland baseline: no fireworks, no exploding or binary targets, no tracer or steel-core ammunition, and internal-combustion engines need a working spark arrestor. Restrictions are set unit by unit and are changing daily as the season winds down — confirm your exact county and land unit on the DNRC fire restrictions map before any open flame.
Official source: services2.arcgis.com →
Check the live restriction status: mtdnrc.maps.arcgis.com →
General legal information, not legal advice — verify important decisions with a licensed attorney.
Current Fire Restrictions in states bordering Montana
The same rule in each neighboring state LawLert has verified, from that state’s own official source.
- IdahoInfo
Idaho issues fire restrictions by area (national forest, BLM district, IDL protection area), so there is no single statewide Stage. …
Verified Oct 18, 2026 · Source: gis1.idl.idaho.gov · Full Idaho rule →
- North DakotaConditional
North Dakota has no permanent statewide burn ban, but most of the state is covered. …
Verified Oct 17, 2026 · Source: nddesgis.nd.gov · Full North Dakota rule →
- South DakotaConditional
South Dakota has no statewide burn ban, and by law it cannot have one: under SDCL 34A-1-18 a general prohibition on open burning is set by each municipality, or by the county outside municipal boundaries, and the state board may not adopt a rule generally prohibiting all open burning. …
Verified Oct 16, 2026 · Source: blm.gov · Full South Dakota rule →
- WyomingConditional
Wyoming has no statewide burn ban - restrictions are issued per land-management unit and county, and 2 of them changed in late September 2026. …
Verified Oct 18, 2026 · Source: blm.gov · Full Wyoming rule →
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