U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT NEWS RELEASE
Canyon Country District Office
Canyon Country District Office
| Contacts: | Jason Kirks | , 435-259-2184 |
BLM Plans Prescribed Fire for Fall and Winter Months
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Moab and Monticello Field Office’s and the Canyon Country Fire Zone will be conducting two prescribed fires this fall and winter on public lands in San Juan County. The burns are being conducted to reduce wildfire risk to communities, restore ecosystem health and maintain wildlife habitat. The prescribed fires include the following:
- Ray Mesa II is a ponderosa pine underburn located a few miles southeast of Old La Sal and the Woodlands at La Sal Subdivision. The burn is approximately 240 acres and will take two to three days to complete in the latter half of October.
- Peters Point is a hand pile burn located eight miles north of Monticello adjacent to Highway 191. Dense pinyon and juniper trees were cut and thinned creating hundreds of small brush piles over approximately 700 acres. The piles will take several days to burn and ignition will begin when snow is on the ground.
Local firefighters from the BLM Canyon Country Fire Zone will staff the burns and monitor fire conditions. The prescribed burns will only be conducted under favorable weather and vegetation conditions in order to achieve desired fire affects and meet the burn plan objectives.
Smoke may be visible from Highway 191 and nearby residents for both burns. Most of the smoke will lift and dissipate during the warmest part of the day. Some smoke may linger over the burn areas and in drainages as temperatures drop during the evening.
For more information on this project please visit www.UtahFireInfo.gov.
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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.
Canyon Country District Office 82 East Dogwood Moab, UT 84532