| Contacts: | Dan Huisjen, Fire Ecologist, 970.240.5339 | |||
| Lee Ann Loupe, External Communications & GIS Staff Officer, 970.874.6717 | ||||
| Erin Curtis, Public Affairs Officer-BLM, 970.244.3097 |
Prescribed Fires Planned in West Central Colorado
Montrose Interagency Fire Management
Bureau of Land Management * Colorado State Forest Service * National Park Service * US Forest Service
Montrose, Colo. – The Montrose Interagency Fire Management Unit (MIFMU) will conduct several prescribed burns in west-central Colorado starting this month and continuing through May.
Crews from the Bureau of Land Management Uncompahgre Field Office and the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests will be staffing the burns and monitoring conditions. The prescribed burns will only be conducted under favorable weather and fuel conditions that maintain adequate control and that will achieve burn objectives.
“These burns will help reduce dense vegetation and fuels and lessen damage that could be caused by catastrophic wildfires,” said Dan Huisjen, MIFMU Fire Ecologist. “They will also help to improve wildlife habitat, regenerate new growth and create more plant diversity across the landscape.”
Each prescribed burn has gone through an environmental analysis and has a detailed burn plan developed in advance. The burn plans contain specific criteria regarding weather conditions and air quality that must be met to help ensure control of the burn as well as to minimize the potential smoke impacts to local communities. Smoke may be visible to nearby residents for all projects. Most of the smoke will lift and dissipate during the warmest part of the day. Some smoke may linger over the area and in drainages as temperatures drop during the evening.
The areas planned for treatment include:
Norwood/Nucla Area
· Columbine Burn (Forest Service): 250 acres of oakbrush. Located 12 miles NE of Nucla in Tabeguache Basin
· Dry Park Burn (BLM): 400 acres of mechanically treated pinyon/juniper. Located 10 miles northwest of Norwood along Highway 90
Uncompahgre Plateau
· Little Monitor Burn (Forest Service): 400 acres of mechanically treated pinyon/juniper and oakbrush. Located 20 miles southwest of Delta along 25 Mesa Road
· Tri-State Powerline Burn (Forest Service): 70 acre aspen clearcut, designed to regenerate young aspen. Located 18 miles southwest of Montrose adjacent to the Divide and Transfer Roads
· Highway 90 Burn (BLM): 70 acres of mechanically treated pinyon/juniper. Located 9 miles west-southwest of Montrose adjacent to Highway 90 and powerlines
· Western Area Powerline Burn (Forest Service): 75 acres of ponderosa pine. Located adjacent to powerlines near the Divide Road, approximately 15 miles SW of Montrose.
· Simms Mesa Burn (Forest Service): 300 acres of ponderosa pine understory. Located 12 miles south-southwest of Montrose on Simms Mesa
North Fork Valley
· Bear Paw Burn (Forest Service): 400 acres of oakbrush. Located 7 miles SE of Paonia along the South Fork of Minnesota Creek
For additional information, contact Dan Huisjen at 970-240-5339.
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.
2465 South Townsend Avenue Montrose, CO 81401