Prescribed burns underway in C.O. to cut wildfire risk

The Bureau of Land Management’s Prineville District has launched several prescribed burn projects in Central Oregon to cut the amount of dry brush and trim the threat of intense wildfires.

Officials say it can be helpful when trying to stop a large wildfire.

“The way it does it cuts down the fire intensity, so if there was a fire, it’s a lot easier to come in here and suppress it,” fire specialist Jake Akerberg said on the fire lines Tuesday.

Favorable weather and wind conditions are allowing BLM fuels specialists to continue their winter prescribed burning program.

Specialists began burning Tuesday along the west side of George Millican Road, 15 miles southwest of Prineville. Crews were burning about 500 acres of slash left over from a juniper thinning and woodcutting project.

The BLM issues permits for residents in Crook County to use this area to cut firewood throughout the year.

Akerberg said the area where they were focusing the prescribed burn is known to have lighting-sparked wildfires.

Crews also will be burning 100 acres of hand piles about 12 miles south of Prineville, near the Prineville Lake Acres subdivision. The material in the piles is left over from a juniper thinning and woodcutting project.

Main roads in the area will be signed to inform residents of the burn, and no road closures or delays are expected.

As conditions allow, crews will move to the High Desert Shrub Steppe Prescribed Burn Project, 15 miles south of Brothers.

This 2,250-acre project is expected to take two weeks to finish; however, poor winter road access may be a limiting factor, officials said.

The goal of this project is to burn previously cut young juniper to help restore the traditional shrub steppe habitat. No road closures or delays are expected; however, the smoke from this project may be visible to vehicles driving through the area along Hwy. 20.

If the weather holds, crews will also work on the Tumalo/Ponderosa Pine project. The goal of this project is to burn about 265 acres of hand piles three miles southwest of Tumalo, adjacent to Tumalo Reservoir Road.

This area was previously thinned and material sold as timber or used for biomass. The project is expected to take up to five days to complete.

No delays or road closures are expected; however, smoke may drift on to Tumalo Reservoir Road. The area will be signed to inform residents about the project.

All prescribed burning is highly dependent on favorable temperature, moisture and wind conditions. Each of these burns will be started when the conditions are right to meet the objectives of the burn and while minimizing smoke impacts to any nearby communities.

All burn areas will be patrolled during and following ignitions and are done in cooperation with the Oregon Department of Forestry smoke management plan. More information is available at: http://blm.gov/wnmd.

Meanwhile, fire managers on the Crooked River National Grassland plan to take advantage of favorable weather starting Wednesday to begin ignitions on around 500 acres of slash within three burn units near Juniper Butte along Highway 97, about 10 miles southwest of Madras.

Such “jackpot” burning addresses high concentrations of naturally-occurring or thinning-related downed woody debris, officials said.

The objective for this jackpot burn is to reduce fuel loading and fire danger in areas where high concentrations of juniper slash are left over from personal use firewood cutting. The project falls within the Jefferson County Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

Ignitions will last for two or three days and smoke will be visible along Highway 97, but no delays or impacts to highway traffic are expected.

The most visible burn unit is located at the base of Juniper Butte near the intersection of Highway 97 and Monroe Lane. Another unit is located 4 miles to the east along Ramms Road, and a third unit is located 2 miles to the south of Ramms Road in the Henderson Flat area, northwest of Gray Butte.

Ignitions are planned to begin at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

All prescribed burning is proposed, analyzed, and planned ahead of time by the Forest Service as part of restoration and fuels management projects. Fuels specialists follow policies outlined in the Oregon Smoke Management Plan, which governs prescribed fires (including pile burning) and attempts to minimize impacts to visibility and public health.

For more information, visit the Ochoco National Forest website at www.fs.usda.gov/ochoco and follow us on Twitter @CentralORFire.