The 4,900-acre Miller Creek Demonstration Forest (MCDF) was set aside for research by the Flathead National Forest in 1989. However, experimental prescribed fire and silviculture treatments to encourage western larch (Larix occidentalis) regeneration began in 1966.

The MCDF is dominated by forests that thrive in cool, moist habitats. Western larch, Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menzeisii), subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa), Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmanii), lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), and a smaller proportion of western white pine (Pinus monticola) can all be found together regardless of elevation or aspect. 

Research and resources -

Fire Effects - Fire Severity: 
Broadcast burning in larch-fir clearcuts: the Miller Creek-Newman Ridge study

Clearcutting and fire in the larch/Douglas-fir forests of western Montana: a multifaceted research summary

Fire Effects - Plants:
Natural revegetation of burned and unburned clearcuts in western larch forests of northwest Montana

Clearcutting and fire in the larch/Douglas-fir forests of western Montana: a multifaceted research summary

Miller Creek Demonstration Forest - A forest born of fire: a field guide

Database for post-fire succession, first 6 to 9 years, in Montana larch-fir forests

Fire Effects - Soils:
Seedbed characteristics in western larch forests after prescribed burning

Smoke & Air Quality:

Clearcutting and fire in the larch/Douglas-fir forests of western Montana: a multifaceted research summary

Smoke column height related to fire intensity