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Summit Fire Crews Look to Burn 1,500 in Dry Meadows Area

SONORA, California June 5, 2023 – Extending the work currently underway on the Strawberry Prescribed Fire Burn, crews with the Stanislaus National Forest Summit Ranger District have begun prep work on the Dry Meadows burn units. While several environmental factors could impact expected operations, fire managers will look to begin ignitions June 13.
The Dry Meadow Prescribed Burn project is designed to target treated National Forest lands within the Wildfire Crisis Strategic Landscape on the Stanislaus National Forest. The Stanislaus Landscape was one of the initial landscapes identified by the Forest Service’s 10-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy in 2022.

The understory units consist of 1,529 acres located north of Beardsley Lake on the Summit Ranger Districts. The goals for the project are to reduce the risk of high-intensity wildfire and strengthen past fuel reduction efforts by completing second entry prescribed burns in all units across the project.

The project area is located between Beardsley Lake and the Tuolumne State Game Refuge with the majority of the units located in close proximity to Forest Road 5N02. The dominate vegetation type within the project is mixed conifer. Intermixed within the units are areas of brush, grass and bear clover of variable loading depending on canopy cover and aspect. Ground fuels consist mainly of needle cast and fine woody debris.

Due to previous prescribed fires, loading of dead and down material is moderate throughout the majority of the burn units. Although brush and small trees exist within the understory it will not affect the fire behavior due to the canopy base height of the mature timber.

With the prescribed burn, fire professional will reduce the buildup of flammable forest fuels, both ground fuels and ladder fuels; reduce the threat of uncontrolled, large and damaging fires; treat activity generated fuels; improve protection for life, property, and resources. Prescribed burning is an effective, cost-efficient method of reducing flammable forest fuels, improving firefighting capabilities, and reducing the impacts of large, uncontrolled damaging wildland fires.