More C.O. prescribed burns planned next week

Starting as early as Monday, fuels specialists on the Deschutes National Forest intend to ignite five prescribed burn units east of Round Mountain and three units southeast of Lookout Mountain for a total of 289 acres.

While ignitions will likely only take 2-3 days to complete, each of the eight units will be assessed next week, and fuels specialists will have maximum flexibility to proceed, depending on weather and fuel moisture conditions at each unit.

The units west of Bend and La Pine were selected for prescribed burning to reduce hazardous fuels within the wildland-urban Interface on national forest lands and reduce the risk of high-intensity wildfires near communities.

No road closures are anticipated with any of the projects.

Residences and businesses in the areas of all of these prescribed burns are advised to keep their windows and doors closed during the night hours to avoid any potential smoke impacts. If smoke drifts onto local roads, motorists should slow down, turn on headlights, and proceed with care.

Fuels specialists will follow policies outlined in the Oregon Department of Forestry smoke management plan, which governs prescribed fires, and attempts to minimize impacts to visibility and public health. Once ignited, units are monitored and patrolled until they are declared out.

Meanwhile, theDeschutes National Forest closure on the Storm King trail in West Bend will change beginning Monday for commercial thinning operations.

Storm King trail from the ‘green gate’ access and the crossing with Cascade Lakes Highway to the intersection with Funner trail will be likely be closed through Friday, October 23. Visitors will not be able to access trails from the green gate parking area during this time and are advised to park at the Steve Larsen/Wanoga trailhead.

The rest of the Storm King Trail from intersection 34 to Forest Service Road 41 is open.

Contractors will be commercially thinning and hauling in three timber sale units in West Bend beginning at 4:00 a.m. on Monday.

For up-to-date trail closure information in West Bend, visit: http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/webmaps/deschutes/west-bend/public-information/

Thinning – Commercial thinning in this area is used to provide a diversity of forest structure and associated wildlife habitats that are reflective of the forest’s historic structure.

The West Bend Vegetation Project is the first project from the Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project (DCFP). The Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project Steering Committee and the Deschutes National Forest have worked on together from the beginning to design, plan, and now to implement collaborative land use goals. The purpose of the West Bend Vegetation Management Project is to do vegetation treatments across approximately 26,000 acres of the Deschutes National Forest to restore a more historic and healthy forest landscape.