Press Release: Western Montana’s Glacier Country Launches “Don’t Add Fuel to the Fire” Course for Montana Visitor-Centric Businesses

June 25, 2024

In anticipation of potential wildland fires in the region, Western Montana’s Glacier Country, the official tourism marketing, management and stewardship organization for Western Montana, recently launched a new on-line course. Don’t Add Fuel to the Fire is a free, 30-minute course designed for Western Montana visitor-centric businesses and front-end staff who may receive questions about wildland fire and smoke conditions.

Don’t Add Fuel to the Fire is a four-part course designed to help understand the critical role of effective communication surrounding wildland fire and smoke. The course provides practical insights and strategies to prevent misinformation and provides fire-prevention and educational resources for visitors and staff.

“What we’ve found over the years is that misinformation about wildfires in the region can be almost as destructive to a community as the fire itself,” said Lucy Beighle, Director of Communications at Glacier Country. “When people are misinformed about the size, location and gravity of a fire, or if they’re posting photos online that imply the entire state is on fire, it impacts visitation to Western Montana,” she says. “Some of our visitor-dependent businesses make a majority of their income in the summer months, and misinformation can be devastating to livelihoods.  We want to get ahead of the game and help prevent that through education. This course not only includes information on how to prevent fires, it talks about how to talk about it.”

Don’t Add Fuel to the Fire is the third course in the free online learning program offered by Western Montana’s Glacier Country. Train the Trainer, Customer Service Essentials and Don’t Add Fuel to the Fire are all available at Learn.GlacierMT.com.

Western Montana’s Glacier Country is recognized by the Tourism Advisory Council (TAC) and the state of Montana as the official marketing and management organization for Western Montana. Glacier Country is funded in part by the state accommodations tax (bed tax) and by private membership funds. Geographically, Glacier Country includes Flathead, Glacier, Lake, Lincoln, Mineral, Missoula, Ravalli and Sanders counties.