Pile burning planned near Phil’s Trail

Beginning Friday, depending upon weather conditions, the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District will conduct pile burning in the area around Phil’s trailhead west of Bend.

The pile burning will not cause any trail closures; however, people recreating in the area may encounter smoke particularly around the trailhead and The Lair.

The pile burning will be done on 372 acres over three units and is a part of a project called East Tumbull.

Because of the number of acres involved, burning will occur on only small portions each day, to limit the amount of smoke going into the city of Bend’s airshed and therefore, the burns will take approximately two weeks to complete.

When the piles are ignited, generally in the morning, smoke will be visible in Bend and then the smoke will dissipate once ignitions stop.

The burning of these piles is the final step of several treatments to remove commercial harvest and thinning slash adjacent to Bend from the project.

For more information contact Jean Nelson-Dean, Public Affairs Officer at 541-383-5561 or jnelsondean@fs.fed.us.