Now that spring weather conditions allow for safe and effective burning, Lassen National Forest fire officials are implementing prescribed burning projects. These initiatives are designed to reduce the threat and severity of catastrophic fires across the landscape by removing highly flammable vegetation from the forest.
“Our goal is to reduce wildfire risk and intensity by safely reducing fuels when weather and air quality conditions allow,” said Almanor Ranger District Fuels Technician Eric Kronner. “This will help prevent the spread of a wildfire during the warm, dry summer months.”
The following burns are tentatively planned:
Foxfarm – Dead needle litter, small woody fuels, and ladder fuels will be burned on 70 acres south of Lake Almanor. Smoke may be present in the area for two to three days during and after ignition.
West Dusty – Approximately 40 acres northwest of Chester will be burned. This project consists mainly of litter from past timber harvests; the project goal is to maintain a Defensible Fuel Profile Zone. Because of air quality concerns, this burn could take up to three days to complete. Implementation will depend in part upon conditions being favorable for lifting the smoke up and out of the Almanor Basin.
South Station Timber Sale – Hat Creek Ranger District plans to underburn 500 to 600 acres near Hole-in-the-Ground and the Juniper Hole area. Smoke will be visible from Highways 44 and 89 and from the communities of Old Station and Hat Creek. This burn will take place over the course of several days as conditions allow.
Pittville Underburn – Hat Creek Ranger District will burn approximately 300 acres near the site of a former timber sale south of Pittville. Smoke may be visible from the communities of Fall River Mills, McArthur, and Pittville.
Pegleg Mountain – Eagle Lake Ranger District will burn 100 acres of understory approximately 10 miles north of Westwood. Smoke may be visible from Susanville, the Eagle Lake basin, Westwood, Spalding, and while traveling on Highways 44 and 139, and County Roads A1 and A21.
Dow Butte – Up to 500 acres of understory burning will take place six miles north of Spalding along Eagle Lake. Smoke may be visible from Susanville, the Eagle Lake basin, Westwood, Spalding, and while traveling on Highways 44 and 139, and County Roads A1 and A21.
Logan Mountain – Eagle Lake Ranger District will burn 250 acres of understory near Logan Mountain, approximately 15 miles west of Eagle lake. Smoke may be visible from Susanville, the Eagle Lake basin, Westwood, Spalding, and while traveling on Highways 44 and 139, and County Roads A1 and A21.
Burning could continue throughout the Spring, as long as air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, and fuel moisture remain within desired ranges. Notices and signs will be posted along major roadways during active burn operations and while smoke remains.
“We’re taking precautions to minimize the amount of smoke in the air,” said Eagle Lake District Fuels Officer Chuck Lewis. “The treatment areas have already been mechanically thinned, which should reduce smoke emissions. We’ll only be burning during permissive burn days. Plus, we coordinate with other public agencies and industrial landowners in the region on planned burn days to limit the amount of smoke in the air at any one time.”
The prescribed burn program is designed to:
- Reduce hazardous fuels – including dead and fallen trees, dead branches, brush, and ladder fuels – that can feed wildfires.
- Restore fire-resilient forests to a more natural state by reintroducing fire into ecosystem.
- Improve understory productivity and vigor, increase and renew forage for wildlife, and increase nutrients released to the soil from consumed fuels.
Prescribed fires are also used to help create Defensible Fuel Profile Zones (DFPZs), areas where a combination of thinning and prescribed fire treatments are used to reduce surface, ladder, and canopy fuels. The DFPZs are designed to facilitate fire suppression efforts, protect communities adjacent to national forest lands during a wildfire, and help return the landscape to one that is more fire-resilient.
For more information about the upcoming Dow Butte, Pegleg Mountain, and Logan Mountain burns, contact Eagle Lake Fuels Officer Chuck Lewis at 530-257-4188.
For more information about the Foxfarm and West Dusty projects, contact Almanor Fuels Technician Eric Kronner at 530-258-2141.
For more information about the South Station and Pittville Underburn projects, contact Hat Creek District Fire Management Officer Debbie Mayer or Dale Newby at 530-336-5521.
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