Prescribed fire activity is beginning on BLM, FS and USFWLS. U.S. FOREST SERVICE, BLM AND U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE TO START PRESCRIBED BURNING IN SOUTH CENTRAL OREGON Lakeview, Ore. – Fire managers for the Fremont-Winema National Forest, Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Lakeview District and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife Complex will start fall prescribed burning. This is an ongoing effort to reduce the potential of catastrophic wildfires and improve ecosystem health. Prescribed burns are a proactive tool used to achieve a number of purposes, including the reduction of hazardous fuels (overgrown vegetation). Prescribed burns can help decrease the threat of high intensity, high-severity wildfires, reduce the risk of insect and disease outbreak, recycle nutrients that increase soil productivity and improve wildlife habitat. Another benefit resulting from prescribed fire is a reduction in fire danger to communities. The Fremont-Winema National Forest, BLM and USF&WS work in partnership with the National Park Service, Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and adjacent landowners to improve the health of our forests and reduce the threat of wildfire to local communities. “Using prescribed fire to reduce the heavy fuels across the landscape can reduce the intensity of a wildfire compared to an area not treated with prescribed fire,” said Barry Shullanberger, Interagency Fuels Specialist for the Fremont-Winema National Forest and BLM Lakeview District. The actual days of ignition for these burn projects will depend on several factors including appropriate humidity levels, wind speed and direction, temperature and fuel moisture. Burns only occur on days when the ODF Smoke Management Office indicates suitable weather conditions exist for smoke dispersal. Fire crews divide large landscape burns into blocks of land over multiple days. This allows them to halt prescribed burning activity within those areas if anything is “out of prescription,” such as too much wind. Crews can start again when conditions are more acceptable. Fire managers create a burn plan, which includes smoke management details, fire control measures, acceptable weather parameters, equipment and personnel needs. The burn plan also describes in detail how the ecosystem will benefit from fire. Please do not call 911 about burning in the areas referred below. Local law enforcement is aware of these burning activities. For prescribed fire information, please call the Klamath Falls Interagency Fire Center (KFIFC) at 541-883-6850 or Lakeview Interagency Fire Center (LIFC) at 541-947-6315. Additional information on prescribed burning can also be found on the KFIFC (scofmp.org/kfifc/rxfire.shtml) and LIFC (scofmp.org/useoffire.shtml) web sites. On these sites, the public can find out what agencies are currently conducting prescribed burns, the location of active burns, residual smoke and planned burns and fiscal year-to-date prescribed burning statistics. Possible burn locations for the fall of 2013 include: FREMONT-WINEMA NATIONAL FOREST Bly Ranger District Approximately 800 acres of prescribed burning is planned for the Mortar/Coyote project area located 10 miles east of Bonanza, Ore. in the Goodlow Mountain area. An additional 1,000 acres are scheduled to be burned within the Bly Ridge Wildland Urban Interface project area, which is a half mile west of the Pinecrest subdivision located northwest of Bly, Ore. Prescribed underburning could also take place on the 183 acre Vista Project area along Highway 140 near Quartz Mountain. Various cut juniper, hand and machine piles across the district will also be ignited as weather permits. For further information, please contact the Bly Ranger District at 541-353-2427. Chemult Ranger District Approximately 470 acres of prescribed burning is planned for the Sting Timber Sale area located about 20 miles southwest of Chemult, Ore. near Pothole Butte. An additional 1,000 acres of prescribed underburning is planned in the Desert Old Growth allocation located approximately 14 miles southwest of Chemult near the Crater Lake National Park boundary. Roughly 850 acres of machine/hand piles will be burned in various locations throughout the District. For further information please contact the Chemult Ranger District at 541-365-7001. Chiloquin Ranger District Roughly 300 acres of prescribed burning is planned in the Ninemile Project area located nine miles east of Chiloquin, Ore. adjacent to the Sprague River Road. Pile burning will also take place in the Ninemile North Project area nine miles east-northeast of Chiloquin. For additional information, please contact the Chiloquin Ranger District at 541-783-4001. Klamath Ranger District Around 175 acres of underburning are planned this fall near Odessa and the Mountain Lakes subdivision near Highway 140. An additional 75 acres of underburning are planned in the Dry Creek drainage, which is approximately 30 miles northwest of Klamath Falls, Ore. For additional information, please contact the Klamath Ranger District at 541-885-3410. Lakeview Ranger District Approximately 1,300 acres of juniper pile burning in the North Warners. The project surrounds the Vee Lake Recreation area located about 18 miles northeast of Lakeview, Ore. and 10 miles west of Plush, Ore. For additional information, please contact the Lakeview Ranger District at 541-947-3334. Winter Rim Zone Nearly 1,500 acres of prescribed burning is planned in the Ben Young Creek area 17 miles south of Paisley, Ore. Nearly 1,000 acres of hand and machine piles within the Paisley and Silver Lake Ranger Districts will be ignited as weather permits. For additional information, please contact the Winter Rim Zone at 541-943-3114. LAKEVIEW DISTRICT BLM Lakeview Resource Area Roughly 3,400 acres of prescribed burning is planned for cut juniper within the Bridge Creek, Green Mountain, Highway 31 and Silver Creek areas in North Lake County. An additional 3,300 acres of prescribed burning is planned for cut juniper within the South Warner Project area 20 miles east of Lakeview, Ore. and five miles southwest of Adel, Ore. For additional information, please contact the Lakeview Resource Area at 541-947-2177. Klamath Falls Resource Area Nearly 665 acres of prescribed burning is planned for the Klamath Falls Resource Area. This includes approximately 200 acres of underburning near the Klamath River Canyon located approximately 16 miles southwest of Klamath Falls, Ore.; 130 acres of hand piled juniper one mile south of the town of Dairy, Ore.; 60 acres of mechanically piled juniper roughly one mile west of the community of Warden, Ore. which is around 12 miles south of Klamath Falls; approximately 200 acres of machine and handpiles near Bly Mountain located about half way between Bly, Ore. and Klamath Falls and south of Highway 140, and 72 acres of hand piles along Miller Creek which is located near Gerber Reservoir and approximately 14 miles east of Bonanza, Ore. For more information, contact the Klamath Resource Area at 541-883-6916. U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE Sheldon/Hart National Wildlife Refuge Complex At Sheldon, 50 acres of cut juniper is planned to be burned this fall and winter. Along with approximately 450 acres of cut juniper to be burned on Hart Mountain, as well as 400-500 acres of meadow grasses in the Post Meadow and Indian Springs area and 20-30 acres of Grass and Sage around the Hot Springs Campground. There is another 125 acres of under-burning in the Blue Sky area planned as well. Most of the planned burning on Hart Mountain is approximately 8-10 miles east of Plush, Ore. The burning planned on Sheldon is approximately 25 miles southeast of Adel, Ore. For more information, please contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife office at 541-947-3315.
Posted on: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 21:49:41 +0000
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