MISSOULA, Montana is in a forest health crisis. …And this is because of prior years of mismanagement and fire mitigation that has allowed large amounts of overgrowth, which in turn acts as fuel for wildfires. And with a complex system to manage the forest, the decline of the lumber industry has further complicated the situation. “We are dealing with a forest health and wildfire crisis. …Overtime our forests have become overgrown, more diseased, more fire prone, and we’re all familiar with the smoke we’re all breathing all summer from these catastrophic wildfires,” said Shawn Thomas, for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. …The timber sales that he oversees in large part come from mills including Pyramid Mountain and Roseburg Forest… whose upcoming closures are creating economic concerns. But besides the economic concerns, there is also the worry about how this will affect the forests health.