CEDAR CITY – The Cedar City Ranger District of Dixie National Forest will begin prescribed burns as early as this week, conditions permitting, with trained fire crews on hand to implement and oversee the fires.
The Dixie National Forest is a fire-dependent ecosystem, and prescribed fire is an important tool in maintaining a health forest, according to a press statement from the Cedar City Ranger District. Prescribed burns will continue until May 2017 as long as favorable conditions for the burn are met.
Years of planning goes into each prescribed fire, with priority being placed on safety for the public and for firefighters.
Burning will only occur when all the defined parameters of the burn plan, including smoke management plan, can be met, the statement said. Care will also be taken to reduce the public’s possible exposure to smoke, to the extent possible.
The Utah Division of Air Quality has imposed stringent guidelines for smoke; the prescribed fire program adheres to the guidelines and coordinates with the state prior to starting a burn.
As favorable burn weather comes available prescribed fires may be initiated in the following locations.
This is a list of the prescribed fire names and locations:
- Cooper Knoll Central – About 1,000 acres in the Cooper Knoll area 5 miles northeast of Panguitch Lake.
- Duck Creek – Approximately 2,000 acres near the greater Duck Creek, Strawberry Valley and Swains Creek areas.
- Cedar City Ranger District logging slash – About 400 acres spanning Navajo Lake to Brian Head, and along state Route 143 to Twin Lakes and Upper Mammoth Springs between and along Highways 14, 143 and Mammoth Creek.
- Sawyer Point – Approximately 500 acres 4 miles north of Todd’s Junction.
No closures are anticipated. Fire crews will be on scene to prepare, ignite and hold the prescribed fires.
For more information contact the Cedar City Ranger District of the Dixie National Forest at telephone 435-865-3200; or Robert Lopez at telephone 435-865-3271 or Eric Eastep at telephone 435-865-3278.
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