Alaska is about to burn 54,000 acres on purpose, to grow more moose

Sometime this month, the state plans to set fire to about 54,000 acres of the Alphabet Hills north of Lake Louise. It isn't a wildfire but instead, a deliberate burn, lit from aircraft, and the goal is moose.

Old black spruce has taken over the Alphabet Hills, crowding out the willow and dwarf birch that moose live on through the winter. Natural fires almost never reach this area, so the forest never resets to the young, leafy growth moose need. The burn does that reset by hand — clearing the spruce so willow and birch come roaring back. Crews will light it as a mosaic, a patchwork of burned and unburned ground, which spreads the benefit across more kinds of wildlife: unburned stands give cover, new growth gives food.

A 2004 burn in the neighboring units did exactly this, and the willows that grew back are now tall enough to stand above the winter snowpack — which matters enormously, because deep snow in late winter is when moose burn through their reserves and starve. Getting food up above the snow line, one biologist said, is "a big deal."

Biologists don't expect the real forage boost for five to fifteen years, so this is a bet on the next decade, not this hunting season. And even at 54,000 acres, it's modest against the roughly 10 million acres of moose habitat in the surrounding game unit — a meaningful patch, not a cure.

Ignition is set for mid-to-late July, but only if temperature, wind, and humidity cooperate; crews will light a small test fire first, and if the weather doesn't hold, the project slides to 2027. Smoke will be visible around Lake Louise and nearby highways for weeks.