| Contacts: | David Boyd, BLM, (970) 319-4130 |
Smoke visible from Grand Junction today, tomorrow from prescribed fires (09-13-10)
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Late summer weather conditions are creating good conditions for safe, effective prescribed fires in Mesa and Garfield counties.
As a result, residents of Grand Junction and the surrounding areas can expect to see smoke today from the 120-acre Black Ridge Prescribed Fire eight miles west of Grand Junction on lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
Tomorrow smoke should be visible 36 miles north of Grand Junction from the 350-acre Brush Mountain Prescribed Fire on BLM land in Garfield County.
About 20 firefighters and three engines will be working these prescribed burns, with additional resources available if needed.
Federal fire officials from the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit are conducting the prescribed fires to improve wildlife habitat and ecosystem health. The burns will decrease the amount of fuel that has built-up in the areas and increase public and firefighter safety.
The burns will only be initiated if conditions are ideal for safe and effective fires.
Saturday, fire managers successfully completed the 100-acre East Sopris Prescribed Fire three miles south of Basalt, Colo.
Next week Upper Colorado River fire managers are planning to ignite the 500-acre Pine Mountain Prescribed Fire on U.S. Forest Service lands in the Grand Valley Ranger District, eight miles east of Gateway, Colo.
A detailed fire plan for each burn has been developed in advance, and appropriate smoke permits have been obtained from the State of Colorado. Fire crews work directly with the National Weather Service as well as take frequent weather readings before and during the burning. If conditions begin to fall outside of the prescribed conditions, the burning will be called off.
These fires should improve wildlife habitat by stimulating new, more nutritious plant production in the burned area.
Since these areas haven’t burned in a number of years, a large amount of debris and other fuels for fires have built-up. This burn will decrease that fuel load, helping reduce the risk of a much larger, unwanted wildfire.
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.
2815 H Road Grand Junction, CO 81506