Lassen National Forest fire officials plan to implement prescribed burning projects as soon as weather conditions allow for safe and effective burning. These initiatives are designed to reduce the threat and severity of catastrophic fires across the landscape by removing highly flammable vegetation from the forest floor.
Burning will begin on October 8th and continues through December when air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed and direction, and fuel moisture are within desired ranges. Several projects scheduled to take place right away include:
Dow Butte – Up to 1,273 acres of understory burning will take place six miles north of Spalding starting on Thursday, October 8th through Saturday, October 10th. Smoke may be visible from the City of Susanville, as well as from County Roads 105 and A-1 near the Champs Flat, Antelope Valley, and Spaulding community areas.
Pegleg Mountain – 220 acres of timber litter, brush, grass, and pine needles will be burned approximately seven miles northeast of Westwood this Sunday, October 11th after the Bizz Johnson Trail Marathon finishes. Smoke may be visible from Highway 44 and the McCoy Flat and Hog Flat areas for up to one week.
Eastside – On October 9th and 10th, up to 440 acres of maintenance burning are planned in the Coyote Springs area. An additional 500 acres in this project area may also be burned, depending on weather and air quality. Another 300 acres of burning are also planned in the general vicinity of Halls Flat. Smoke will be visible from Highway 44.
Notices and signs will be posted along major roadways during active burn operations and while smoke remains.
Additional burns are tentatively planned for later this winter, including:
Foxfarm – Dead needle litter, small woody fuels, and ladder fuels will be burned on 70 acres south of Lake Almanor later this month. Smoke may be present in the area for two to three days during and after ignition.
Cold Springs – 200 acres of understory 12 miles northeast of Cohasset in eastern Tehama County will be burned in late fall/early winter. Smoke will likely be visible throughout the Valley and as far south as Chico.
Old Station – Approximately 200 acres in the Hat Creek Old Station Wildland-Urban Interface area will be burned within the next several weeks, weather permitting.
Hat Creek – Machine and hand piles scattered across more than 1,500 acres of the Hat Creek District, including Haun, Cave, and Hat Creek and Bridge Campgrounds, are scheduled for burning over the next few months. Smoke will be visible from Highways 44 and 89.
In addition, 1,300 acres of pile burning in Plumas and Tehama Counties north of Cohasset, as well as 250 acres in Lassen County, are planned once significant rain or snowfall has occurred. The piles range from small hand piles to large landing piles and are scattered throughout Lassen National Forest.
The goals of this prescribed burn program are to:
- Reduce the accumulation of hazardous fuels – including dead and fallen trees, dead branches, and brush – 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 where a combination of thinning and prescribed fire treatments are used to reduce surface, ladder, and canopy fuels. The DFPZs are designed to improve fire suppression efforts, increase protection of the communities adjacent to national forest lands during a wildfire, and help return the landscape to one that is more fire-resilient.
“We know that prescribed burning works,” said Eagle Lake District Fuels Officer Chuck Lewis. “For example, when the 2002 Cone Fire burned parts of the Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest, fire intensity and tree mortality was lower in previously thinned and prescribed burned areas than in nearby untreated areas.”
For more information about the upcoming Dow Butte and Pegleg Mountain burns, contact Eagle Lake Fuels Officer Chuck Lewis at 530-257-4188.
For more information about the Foxfarm and Cold Springs projects, contact Almanor Fuels Technician Eric Kronner at 530-258-2141.
For more information about the Eastside and Old Station projects, contact Hat Creek District Fire Management Officer Debbie Mayer or Dale Newby at 530-336-5521.
