HELENA — Viewers Don Cresswell and Janet Robinson noticed vertical tracks on Mt. Helena, and wanted to know what they are from. According to the City of Helena, they are utility terrain vehicle tracks.
The city has a weed contractor that treats parts of the open lands system with herbicide to get rid of noxious weeds each year. The herbicide is sprayed in a grid pattern on the hillsides.
The visible tracks on Mt. Helena are in the 2022 wildfire burn area According to the city, that area has become infested with noxious weeds after the grass and brush burned off.
Dry conditions in the summer make the tracks more visible. With new growth in the spring, those tracks should disappear.
