Spring brings warmer weather, lower relative humidities, and high winds. This weather process tends to dry out fuels like grass, brush, and timber which can result in severe fire behavior that is not ideal for landscape benefit. Wind is especially troublesome because it threatens to move prescribed fire into unplanned areas or carry embers aloft beyond and outside of control lines.
Prescribed fires are generally conducted in the spring and again in the fall when weather conditions are favorable. Fire managers continually monitor weather conditions leading up to, during, and after implementation and will not burn during, or with forecasted high winds. Treatments typically involve thinning fuels and removing vegetation to reduce heavy fuel loads that can increase the risk of extreme wildfire events and using a risk-based approach to restore healthy fire to fire-adapted ecosystems. Prescribed fires support land management objectives by improving plant and wildlife habitat, reducing the threat of invasive species on the landscape, and help protect communities from extreme wildfires. The treatment areas modify wildfire behavior by reducing ladder fuels composed of vegetation on or just above the forest floor such as branches or low lying shrubs and trees that can carry fire from the ground to the tops of trees.
As summer approaches, the windows of opportunity for prescribed ignitions become less frequent. Changes in weather conditions and environmental considerations inevitability lead to fire managers postponing burns until later in the year when favorable weather conditions return.
The Black Mesa Ranger District had planned the Hidden 2 prescribed fire on 348 acres to reduce hazardous fuel accumulations and minimize the risk of high-severity wildfires. The Hidden 2 project west of Forest Lakes is part of the Forest Service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy and may be rescheduled in the fall.
The Lakeside Ranger District was gearing up for ignitions on the Doyle and Ortega units of the Lakeside East prescribed fire project that encompasses 2,254 acres. The Lakeside East project is within the Four Forest Restoration Initiative area (4FRI). This project southwest of Vernon may be postponed until later this year.
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