At least 30 of Montanas 56 counties are eligible for the states severe drought status, an official told the committee.

Jesse Aber, a Department of Natural Resources water planner and the committees staff person, said May 1 data indicated 24 counties meet the states criteria for the status. Dry, warm weather since then will qualify at least six more counties, he said. The committees severe drought declarations are based on water supply and projected precipitation as of May 15.

Aber said he expected the committee to make an official declaration within days.

A state-level declaration does not free up money or open special programs, but it does send a message to counties that they need to be planning for drought at the local level, Aber said. It also gives the state an edge in applying for federal drought relief, he added.

National Weather Service meteorologist Kenneth Mielke said Montana is in the middle of a fairly normal drought cycle, and its only a matter of time before the current drought ends.

Weve been here before, and well get out of it, he said. But were in it pretty good right now.

Peggy Stringer, state statistician for the Montana Agricultural Statistics Service, said the dry weather is taking its toll on crops and livestock. Crops are already showing signs of drought stress, she said. And ranchers, whose hay and pasture were ruined by last years dry season, are having a difficult time figuring out how to feed their animals this year.

People are already talking about moving their cattle to pasture in neighboring states several hundred miles away, Agriculture Director Ralph Peck said. Peck is working with Montanas congressional delegation and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Anne Veneman to open up Conservation Reserve Program lands for grazing as early as possible. Under the CRP program, ranchers are paid to keep land out of production.

Things just are really tough in ag right now, Peck said.

Because there is so little moisture across much of the state, this year is also winding up to be another big one for fires.

The moisture level in large-diameter dead trees known as thousand-hour fuels because they burn for a long time is below average across much of the state, said Ray Nelson of the Northern Rockies Fire Coordination Center. At the same time, measurements of how hot a fire would be likely to burn are above average.

Firefighters who have been in the field over the past two weeks have told Nelson that fires have been much more difficult to contain than would be normal for this time of year.