Several prescribed fires are planned for this week:

Elk underburn project up to 328 acres planned October 15 and 621 acres October 16, location: north of Pilgrim Creek Snowmobile Park northeast of McCloud, smoke may be visible from Hwy 89 and McCloud
 

Porcupine underburn project up to 150 acres planned October 15, location north of Bear Mountain
 
Harris underburn project up to 208 acres planned October 16, location northeast of McCloud

Project initiation dates are dependent upon several factors, including, but not limited to favorable weather and site conditions. Should it become necessary, individual project ignition start dates may be delayed until later in the year for more favorable conditions. Fire managers will be working with Air Quality Management Districts to ensure compliance with air quality regulations and health and safety conditions.

Prescribed fire operations create a landscape with a reduced amount of ladder fuels and dead vegetation. Once treated, these sites will provide defensible space and better opportunities to control fires because of reduced fire behavior. The project will also simulate the natural role of fire in the ecosystem by that will improve and protect forest health and vigor.

Pre-ignition public notifications will be provided to local media outlets and will also be posted on https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6603/, the Forest’s Facebook www.facebook.com/ShastaTrinityNF and Twitter www.twitter.com/ShastaTrinityNF pages. For more information, please contact the Public Affairs Office at (530) 226-2494

#PrescribedFire #GoodFire #ActiveForestManagement

Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Trinity River Management Unit will be conducting upcoming prescribed fire operations to remove understory fuels on National Forest System lands in the areas of North Lake in Trinity Center, CA and Musser Hill in Weaverville, CA. Expected project ignition dates for the burns may be as early as Wednesday October 16, weather and fuels conditions permitting. Specific project information is below.

• North Lake near the Trinity Center Ball Park in Trinity Center, CA – Multiple units may be burned as conditions allow up to 119 acres. Smoke will be visible from Trinity Center, Coffee Creek, Trinity Lake and various places along Hwy 3 and Eastside road (County road 106) during burn operations and smoke may continue to be visible through the following few days after ignitions.

   

• Musser Hill in Weaverville, CA - Approximately 96 acres are included in the project. Smoke will be visible from Oregon Mountain Summit, Weaverville and various places north of town along Hwy 3 during burn operations and smoke may continue to be visible through the following few days after ignitions.
  
  

Project initiation dates are dependent upon several factors, including, but not limited to favorable weather and site conditions. Should it become necessary, individual project ignition start dates may be delayed until later in the year for more favorable conditions. Fire managers will be working with North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District to ensure compliance with air quality regulations and health and safety conditions.

Prescribed fire operations create a landscape with a reduced amount of ladder fuels and dead vegetation. Once treated, these sites will provide defensible space and better opportunities to control fires because of reduced fire behavior. The project will also simulate the natural role of fire in the ecosystem by that will improve and protect forest health and vigor.

Pre-ignition public notifications will be provided to local media outlets and will also be posted on https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6603/, the Forest’s Facebook www.facebook.com/ShastaTrinityNF and Twitter www.twitter.com/ShastaTrinityNF pages. For more information, please contact the Public Affairs Office at (530) 226-2494 or the Weaverville Ranger Station at (530) 623-2121.

Annually, fire managers implement prescribed fire projects on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. These projects are part of a fuels management program. Each project has specific objectives involving reduction of hazardous fuels. The forest fuels and vegetation management program analyzes techniques to treat areas using a combination of methods. One treatment option is mechanical thinning and application of prescribed fire to treat the residual slash. Following a mechanical thinning, sites may be prepared for prescribed fire which can involve piling material or constructing firelines (boundaries) for a broadcast fire application. A few other tasks involved in a prescribed fire application include; preparing a prescribed fire plan, assessing fuel conditions, reviewing weather forecasts prior to ignition, and setting up monitoring points. This briefly summarizes some of the prescribed fire aspects in the fire management program. 

Update 10/3/2019: the Harrison Gulch prescribed fire has been postponed pending favorable weather and fuels conditions. We will keep you updated.

REDDING, Calif. — During the first week of October, the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, South Fork Management Unit will be conducting a prescribed fire to remove understory fuels on National Forest System lands in the area of Harrison Gulch Ranger Station in Platina, CA. The target dates for the burn will be starting as early as Wednesday October 2 and could last through the fall and winter season, depending on weather and fuels conditions.

The expected project initiation dates are dependent upon several factors, including, but not limited to favorable weather and site conditions. Five units may be burned as conditions allow up to 58 acres.

Smoke will be visible from Hwy 36 near the Harrison Gulch Ranger Station during burn operations and smoke may continue to be visible through the following few days. Fire managers will be working with the Air Quality Management Board to ensure compliance with air quality regulations and health and safety conditions.

The prescribed fire operation will create a landscape with a reduced amount of ladder fuels and dead vegetation. Once treated, the site will provide defensible space and better opportunities to control fires because of reduced fire behavior. The project will also simulate the natural role of fire in the ecosystem by that will improve and protect forest health and vigor.

Pre-ignition public notifications will be provided to local media outlets and will also be posted on https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6603/, the Forest’s Facebook www.facebook.com/ShastaTrinityNF and Twitter www.twitter.com/ShastaTrinityNF pages. For more information, please contact the Public Affairs Office at (530) 226-2494 or the Harrison Gulch Ranger Station at (530) 352-4211 (Monday through Friday 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)

The McCloud district of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest will be conducting a prescribed underburn project September 26-27, 2019 northeast of McCloud north of the Pilgrim Creek Snowmobile Park

• Project Name: Elk
• Legal Location: T41N, R1W, Sec 27, 28, 30, 31, 33, 34
• Descriptive Location: North of Snowmobile Park
• Total Acreage: Up to 1000 acres over the next 2 days. Plan for around 100 acres Thursday and the remainder on Friday
• Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: Southeast Thursday and Northeast / east Friday
• Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: Smoke will be visible from Hwy 89. Electronic signs are in place. Smoke may settle in drainages overnight.

The McCloud District of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest will continue burning through the weekend. See maps tab for a map of the Elk Prescribed Fire area

• Project Name: Elk
• Burn Plan: SMMU Pile Burn Plan
• Legal Location: T40N, R1W, Sec 28 & 33
• Descriptive Location: Northeast of Pilgrim Creek Snowmobile Park & McCloud
• Type of burn: Machine Piles
• Total Acreage: Up to 150
• Planned Ignition: September 21 & 22, 2019
• Duration of Ignition and Smoke Production: Ignitions will last 2 days. Smoke production will occur between the hours of 0900 to 1600. Smoke will remain in the general area over night but be light in production.
• Estimated Direction of Smoke Travel: West on Saturday, Northeast on Sunday
• Communities or Smoke Sensitive Areas: None. Smoke will be visible in the local area. No impacts to Mt. Shasta or McCloud are anticipated.

Prescribed 5 acre pile burn is planned for today September 20, 2019 north of Pilgrim Creek Snowmobile Park northeast of McCloud

What are the benefits of Prescribed Burning?

Fire in the wildland plays an important role in the natural cycle of life in the forest and it can also quickly become a dangerous hazard situation for a community. A non-catastrophic fire, whether prescribed or natural, has many ecosystem and resource benefits. An unmanageable wildfire threat to a community is a situation we all want to avoid. Prescribed fire is the controlled application of fire to the land to accomplish specific land management goals and can reduce hazardous fuels accumulations that can lead to an unwanted wildfire threat. The benefits include:

• Reducing hazard fuel build-up: Dead wood, overcrowded, unhealthy trees, thick layers of pine needles, and continuous decadent brush fields can all contribute to catastrophic wildfires in the forest or adjacent to communities.

• Prepares the land for new growth: When excess vegetation or needle layers are burned off, nitrogen and other nutrients are released into the soil and become available for new plants to grow.

• Helps certain plants/trees germinate: Many native plant and forest communities have adapted to fire for their germination and growth. Seed contact with bare soil (such as that exposed by a fire) is necessary for some species to naturally regenerate.

• Naturally thins overcrowded forests: Historically, natural fire thinned the forests. Thinned forests can recover faster and are more resistant to insect and disease attacks. Currently, many of the mature forests are overcrowded, resulting in a lack of vigor and health.

• Creates diversity needed by wildlife: Fire creates a varied land and vegetation pattern that provides diverse habitat for plants and animals. Grazing wildlife benefit from new growth as shrubs produce succulent edible leaves when re-sprouting after a fire.

What is a burn plan?

A burn plan helps ensure that the objectives of the burn are met, as well as addressing safety issues. Land managers determine if the resource would benefit from a specifically prescribed fire application. The burn plan determines the environmental conditions necessary for meeting resource objectives in a safe, effective manner.

The plan includes how and when the fire will be ignited and contained and what resources, such as fire equipment and personnel, must be on site before burning may begin. Air Quality Management District issues project specific burning permits as required. A burn plan must be followed. If unexpected problems arise, a burn operation is shut down.

How is burning accomplished?

Four major methods of burning are utilized on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest:

• Pile Burning: Involves burning piles that were generated by hand piling and mechanical piling. The piled fuels are typically generated by some activity like logging slash, thinning, and brush removal.

• Underburning: Involves implementing a light-to-moderate intensity fire through an area to reduce surface fuel loading, thin overstocked reproduction, and accomplish natural limbing of lower (near ground level) branches of large trees.

• Helitorch: Involves igniting brush fields using a helicopter carrying a 55-gallon drum filled with gelled gasoline. The fuel is ignited with a remote igniter as it is dispensed from the drum.

• Plastic Sphere Dispenser: Involves dispensing from a helicopter, plastic (ping-pong sized) balls that start individual fires through a chemical reaction. The balls are injected with reactive substances as they are dispensed from the helicopter.

Who does the burning?

Prescribed fire use is conducted by trained and qualified fire management professionals who have studied and are experienced and skilled in the areas of fire behavior and fire management techniques. These prescribed fire professionals help ensure the safety of the burn crew, nearby residents, and property.

What about the smoke?

Controlling where the smoke will go is an important part of every prescribed burn. Before each burn, land managers look carefully at what they plan to burn and the proximity of houses, roads, and other smoke sensitive sites to the planned burn area. The burn plan is then written to minimize negative impacts of smoke, especially to individuals who may be smoke-sensitive. Smoke, however, is a natural byproduct of fire and some amounts are unavoidable.

Periodic prescribed burns prevent heavy fuel accumulation that would send a larger amount of smoke into the air should an uncontrolled wildfire occur.

When does burning occur?

The Shasta-Trinity National Forest conducts most prescribed fires between mid-September and June 1. Prescribed burning is started after the fall rainy season begins, and extends until the final spring rains are eminent usually in April. The forest burn schedule is established for fuels reduction, wildlife habitat and resource protection priorities.