A Prescribed Fire
Credit: Forest Service
Sonora, Calif., November 4, 2015…Weather and air quality conditions permitting, U.S. Forest Service fire crews will begin ignitions this month on the Rim Fire Recovery Prescribed Fire on the Mi-Wok and Groveland Ranger Districts, Stanislaus National Forest.
As many as 5,600 acres of hand and machine piles and 310 acres of jackpot burn units may be ignited in blocks throughout the winter and spring in the area located within the Rim Fire footprint from the Buck Meadows area to Cherry Lake.
The area will be treated using low-intensity prescribed fire. Size of burn blocks may vary with weather and fuel moisture conditions, as well as permissible air quality burn days. Smoke may be visible from Hwy. 120 and in the surrounding communities. This project is a planned prescribed fire; please do not report this as a wildland fire.
Prescribed burning is an effective, cost efficient method of reducing flammable forest fuels, improving firefighting capabilities, and reducing the impacts of uncharacteristic wildfire. The Sierra Nevada is a fire dependent ecosystem, where fire is part of the natural forest process. The objective of the burn program is to protect our local communities from wildfire by reducing hazardous fuel conditions.
Prescribed fires are also used for restoring, enhancing and sustaining a healthy forest ecosystem through reintroducing fire as a component of ecosystem dynamics. By burning during cooler and wetter times of the year, these burns are less intense, easier to control and produce significantly less smoke than a wildfire during the summer months. The U.S. Forest Service complies with all local, state and federal air quality regulations during burn events.
Specific project location information is available online at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/stanislaus/home/?cid=stelprdb5440683). For more information or concerns about this prescribed burn, please call the: Mi-Wok Ranger District at 209-586-3234 or the Stanislaus Supervisor’s Office at: 209-532-3671.
Source: Stanislaus National Forest
