DFPA wants you to know PRESCRIBED FIRES STARTING SOON Now that cooler temperatures and higher humidity’s have return to the Umpqua Valley, residents may see smoke throughout the area as ranchers utilize prescribed fires to prepare their land for next year. The effect on populated areas will be minimized by allowing the burns to only take place when weather patterns are favorable. Officials with the Douglas Forest Protective Association monitor burning conditions and wind direction to predict where smoke will travel. Prescribed fires are only permitted when it appears that smoke will travel away from large populations. Prescribed burns are made safe by the construction of fire trails before fire is introduced onto the landscape. In addition, landowners must be able to show that they have the ability and resources in the form of fire suppression equipment and personnel on site to maintain control of the prescribed fire. Once fire trails are approved by DFPA, and weather conditions are favorable, a permit may be issued to burn. On average, about 10,000 acres are burned annually to improve habitat and pasture lands in Douglas County. Without burning, these lands would become overgrown with poison oak, blackberry bushes, noxious weeds, and other brush. The burning process eliminates these fuel loads that can turn small, manageable fires into large, out of control fires.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 20:56:49 +0000
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