| Contacts: | Lynn Barclay 970-826-5096 |
Adobe Fire north of Maybell contained at 540 acres (08-04-10)
Craig, CO – Thunderstorms brought rain, lightning and wildland fires to northwest Colorado Tuesday afternoon. The Adobe Fire was reported around 4:00 p.m., fifteen miles north of Maybell in the Great Divide area. Wind quickly pushed the fire to 80 acres in sagebrush and cheatgrass. Engines from Moffat County Sheriff Department engines and Bureau of Land Management responded along with a four-person hand squad from BLM. Moffat County road graders were mobilized but not needed as crews on scene built line around the blaze. Engines will return this morning to continue mop up and patrol the area. The majority of the fire involved private land with a small portion on state lands. No structures were threatened.
A second wildland incident, The Juniper Fire, was reported around 6:00 p.m. in the Axial Basin area about 25 miles west of Craig. It was on private land and contained last night, it was about one tenth acre.
Both fires were lightning caused and in Moffat County. The possibility of holdover fires exists. A holdover is a lightning strike that doesn’t immediately generate open flames, but smolders for several days until conditions are optimal for ignition. This is a fairly typical occurrence for northwest Colorado. Engines will be on patrol today and focus on areas hardest hit by lightning from yesterdays storms.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
455 Emerson Street Craig, CO 81625