PENDLETON, Ore. (Sept. 15, 2023) — Fire management officials on the Umatilla National Forest are preparing to implement the Forest’s fall prescribed burn plan, which could impact camping and hunting opportunities in several hunting units across the Forest. Any associated road and trail closures will go into effect prior to and during burn operations, which typically take 2-5 days to complete. Hunters are advised to plan ahead and avoid camping in the designated prescribed burn areas during the 2023 hunting season.
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 must be within a narrow criteria window
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.
With the current rains and moderate temperatures across the Forest, many
areas are conducive to successful prescribed fire implementation in the near
term.
“From a restoration objective
standpoint, late summer and fall provide the best opportunities for the timing
of prescribed fires,” said Andrew Stinchfield, Deputy Fire Staff Officer. “Fire behavior during fall weather conditions
is more likely to align with how the native vegetation has adapted to fire.”
The Forest Service recognizes that
hunting season coincides with prescribed burning season and can impact hunters,
but controlled burns are necessary to reintroduce fire to the landscape and
encourage healthy vegetation that will ultimately improve landscapes and forage
for big game.
Hunters should be cautious when
entering a recently burned area and be aware of increased hazards, particularly
snags. Dead or dying trees that remain standing after a fire are unstable,
especially in high winds.
Each prescribed burn follows a
prescribed burn plan. These burn plans represent many years of analysis and
preparation to ensure burn operations meet prescriptive conditions that allow
for successful burns that provide multiple resource benefits and reduce the
potential for adverse effects. 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.
The Umatilla National Forest has
developed a prescribed fire interactive map
displaying planned burning activities. The interactive map allows the user to
zoom in on certain areas and click on a burn unit for more information (such as
acreage, status, etc). When burning operations begin the interactive map will
be updated to display which burn units are actively burning.
In addition to the resources
above, precise prescribed fire ignition dates will be posted at the following
locations:
· Umatilla
National Forest Facebook and Twitter Pages: @UmatillaNF
· Blue
Mountains Prescribed Fire Council Blog: https://bluemtnprescribedfire.blogspot.com/
For more information about the
Umatilla National Forest’s Prescribed Burn program, please contact one of the
following Forest Service personnel:
· Andrew
Stinchfield, Umatilla National Forest - (541) 975-3002
· Joby
Sciarrino, Pomeroy & Walla Walla Ranger District - (509) 522-6283
· Kristen
Marshall, Heppner & North Fork John Day Ranger District - (541) 676-2130
Additional information about the
Umatilla National Forest is available at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla.
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