Several wildfires, including the Windy Rock Fire near Helmville, the Cloudrest and Bivens Creek fires in the Tobacco Root Mountains, and the Horn and McAllister fires in the Madison Valley, have burned thousands of acres each. It's no coincidence that all of these fires are burning in drier areas of the state.

According to the latest drought monitor, all of these fires are burning in areas of severe to extreme drought.

As a whole, the state of Montana is not in terrible shape, with 42% of the state facing some level of drought. About 20% of the state is in moderate drought, 16.5% is under severe drought, and 6% is under extreme drought.

While this summer has been fairly wet and cool, some drought relief has even taken place. But Western Montana is facing a longer-term drought. The past

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