FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE        June 23, 2006
Contact:  Kirsten Cannon        (702) 515-5057

BLM Announces Additional Fire Restrictions

 Las Vegas – Effective today additional fire restrictions that prohibit possession of fireworks and steel core ammunition on public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Las Vegas Field Office have been implemented.

In May 2006, joint fire restrictions went into effect that prohibited the following on public lands managed by BLM, National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service:
• Building, maintaining, attending or using a fire, campfire, or stove fire, except a portable stove using gas, jellied petroleum or pressurized liquid fuel
• Smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle
• Welding, or operating an acetylene torch with open flames, except by permit
• Using, or causing to be used, any explosive, except by permit
• Using fireworks or firing a tracer

According to Kevin Oliver, BLM Fire Management Officer, additional restrictions that prohibit not only use but possession of fireworks and possession and use of steel core ammunition were needed to prevent human-caused wildland fire.  “Conditions in Southern Nevada are ripe for a catastrophic wildland fire due to increasingly high temperatures coupled with the extraordinary amount of dry grasses and other fuels that persisted from last year,” stated Kevin Oliver, BLM Fire Management Officer.  “People are encouraged to enjoy their public lands, but to do so responsibly.”

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