PENDLETON,
Ore. - Fire
management officials on the Heppner Ranger District are preparing to implement a
250-acre prescribed burn as early as Thursday, April 26 near Sunflower Flat,
approximately 20 miles south of Heppner.
The activities are anticipated to produce localized smoke
impacts for approximately two to three days, after ignitions are complete. The
objective of the prescribed burn operation is to reduce hazardous fuel loads by
using controlled fire to reduce the amount of dead and down fuels and
selectively thin understory trees in dense forested stands. Prescribed burning
will also help stimulate fire tolerant plant species, enhance forage and
browse, and reduce the risk of large stand-replacing wildfires.
If conditions are right, the district will continue burning
into next week.
Frequent,
low-intensity fire is essential for healthy forests and reducing the risk of
uncharacteristic wildfire caused by excessive fuel buildup. Prescribed burning
is an effective tool for removing excessive amounts of brush, shrubs, and
trees, while also encouraging the growth of native vegetation. Prescribed
burning is also highly dependent on weather conditions, which have to be within
a narrow criteria window in order to use prescribed fire. Factors such as wind
speed and direction, temperatures, relative humidity, and fuel moistures are
all taken into consideration prior to implementing a prescribed burn
operation.
Each
prescribed burn represents many years of planning and preparation to ensure burn operations meet
prescriptive conditions that allow for successful burns that provide multiple
benefits to resources. The forest works closely with the Oregon
Department of Forestry and Washington Department of Natural Resources in
accordance with the State’s Smoke Management Plans to determine when, where,
and how much is burned on a daily basis.
Potential smoke impacts, looking at volume of smoke, direction of
spread, and mixing heights, are determined
prior to each burn. All burns will be
monitored until a season ending rain or snow occurs.
Early season burning operations typically
begin in spring (or when the snow melts) and occur until the beginning of fire
season. For additional information on prescribed burning on the Umatilla
National Forest, please visit:
For additional information on the Heppner Ranger District’s
upcoming burn, please contact Kristen Marshall at 541-676-2130, klmarshall@fs.fed.us.
Additional information on the Umatilla National Forest is available at www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla/ or by visiting any forest office.
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