Eldorado National Forest officials plan to resume their prescribed burning program as conditions are favorable for burning.
Multiple pile and understory burn projects will be conducted, as conditions permit, this fall, winter and spring, on the Georgetown, Pacific, Placerville and Amador ranger districts. Prescribed fires are controlled fires that helps reduce the catastrophic damage of wildfire on our lands and surrounding communities.
The burns aim to:
• Reduce fuel loading (vegetation) to prevent catastrophic fire
• Control low-quality, undesirable competing vegetation to allow establishment of seedlings following planting and increased water, soil nutrients, sunlight and resource availability for already established trees
• Improve wildlife habitat by creating a more open midstory and understory and improve browse and forage quality and quantity
• Improve ecosystem health in forests by reducing competition and decreasing diseases and pests, as well as decreasing fire intensity during wildfires
• Improve wildlife habitat especially when patches of unburned areas are left for nesting and cover
Prescribed burning also helps maintain clean drinking water and reduces the amount of moisture that evaporates from plants into the air. This increases the quantity and improves the quality of water soaking into the ground replenishing aquifers.
Each operation follows a specialized burn plan, in which temperature, humidity, wind, vegetation moisture and smoke dispersal conditions are considered daily before a prescribed fire is implemented. Smoke from prescribed fire operations is normal and may continue for several days after an ignition depending on the project size, conditions and weather.
Prescribed fire smoke is generally less intense and of much shorter duration than smoke produced by unwanted wildfires. Fire managers consider optimal conditions for dispersal and duration of smoke impacts when planning prescribed burns.
Prescribed fire updates for the Eldorado National Forest will be posted on Twitter @EldoradoNF. For more information about smoke contact Assistant Forest Fire Management Officer Jecobie Waters at (530) 414-3470 or jecobie.waters@usda.gov.