December 7, 2019 - EL DORADO HILLS, Calif. – The Bureau of Land Management Mother Lode Field Office will be conducting pile burning this winter and coming spring on roughly 450 acres of public lands in Calaveras, Mariposa, Nevada and Tuolumne counties.

Wildland fire crews will ignite pile burns only when weather and fuel conditions allow for safe and successful burning and smoke dispersion. Smoke may be visible from nearby communities during the prescribed burn projects.

“These carefully managed, low intensity fires are designed to reduce wildfire danger by removing fuels, reducing fire threat and increasing forest resiliency,” says Mother Lode Field Manager Elizabeth Meyer-Shields. “Prescribed fire is an important tool that allows the BLM to meet fuels reduction goals in a cost-effective and ecologically-sound manner.”

In Calaveras County, crews will be working in the South Fork Mokelumne Project and the Lily Gap Project. The communities of Barton, Glenco, Pioneer, Volcano, West Point and Wilseyville may see smoke. These projects are being done in partnership with the Calaveras Healthy Impact Product Solutions and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy.

In Nevada County, the crews will be working in Shields Camp and Bear Tree parcels of the ‘Inimim Community Forest on the San Juan Ridge in the western part of the county. The communities of Lake City and North Columbia may see smoke. This work complements other fuels work and hazard tree removal being done by the Yuba Watershed Institute, along roads in the ‘Inimim Forest. YWI has also applied for an SNC grant to treat additional parcels in the area.

For specific questions, please contact the BLM Mother Lode Field Office during regular business hours at 916-941-3101.
Source: BLM