The last remaining fire restrictions have been lifted in north-central Montana.

“We all agreed that the conditions have changed enough and the weather pattern has changed enough, to lift the restriction, ” Hill County Commission Chairman Mike Wendland said this morning, after a conference call with the fire restriction management group.

A wide region of north-central and central Montana had been placed under Stage 1 Fire Restrictions earlier this summer due to high levels of growth combined with low humidity, high temparatures and often high winds.

The Lewistown Area Fire Restrictions Group that monitors fire hazards in that area announced last week that Stage 1 Fire Restrictions were still in place for Blaine, Chouteau and Hill counties and Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation, although the restrictions had been lifted from other areas.

Wendland said those restrictions were lifted this morning.

Last week, the restrictions had been lifted from federal, state and private land for Fergus, Golden Valley, Judith Basin, Petroleum, Phillips, Roosevelt and Valley counties, and for for U. S. Forest Service lands in the Little and Big Snowy Mountains and for all U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands within the C. M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge.

Wendland added that many agricultural producers had hoped the ban would be lifted so they could do some burning. To do controlled burning, people still must apply for and receive a burn permit, he said.