A prescribed burn is scheduled in a 6000-acre area of the Uinta-Cache National Forest northeast of Kamas this week. Trail closures will happen during the burn periods and the two days following. The forest service asks people not report the smoke to emergency services.
Beginning Wednesday, The Forest Service will shut down access to trails on the Mirror Lake Highway between Norway Flats and Upper Setting. They’ll probably be closed from Wednesday through Saturday. National Forest Public Information Officer Loyal Clark says the timing to start the first burn and how long they’ll keep the area closed to users will depend on the weather.
"And that includes good smoke dispersal, windspeed and direction. Actual moisture in the vegetation. It needs to be dry enough to burn. And then of course the relative humidity and the temperature. Now, if we have significant moisture on Friday, then it looks like Saturday and Sunday, those areas may be opened earlier.”
Clark says they’ll ignite patches of targeted vegetation from the air and will have about 100 firefighters on the ground managing the burn. One objective is to regenerate the old stands of aspen forest in the area. By clearing out old stands of aspen and beetle killed conifers, it allows for new growth and helps to avoid potentially devastating fires which can hurt soil and impact the water shed.
“And aspen stands depend on fire for nutrient cycling in the soil, for seed bed preparation, for improving wildlife habitat…fire is the best way for that to happen. That will make for a healthier forest. It will improve wildlife habitat in the area. Aspen has shown us that once fire gets to an aspen stand, it slows and actually stops it.”
They’ll continue to look at forecasts and determine if more area can be burned over the next four to six weeks. She says there is a lot of dead and downed fuel in the 6000-acre area. They have support from regional and county firefighting services and the Kamas community will be notified when they are burning because smoke will be visible. They request that people not contact the fire department during the burn. Clark says they take the wind direction into consideration, so communities don’t fill up with smoke.
“…the public could please stay out of the area. We typically have a number of recreationists or visitors that like to get into those closure areas to take photos or fly drones. So, we really strongly encourage, ask the public to stay out of those areas, not only for their safety but if those folks are in those areas, then our firefighters are distracted from doing their job or worrying about people that are violating those closures.”
Clark says a minimum fine for violation of a closure order can be from $200 up to $5000.
“With the drone activity, our helicopter would have to be grounded which would affect our ability to implement that project. The intrusion of airspace, that’s an FAA violation so they are the ones that issue the citations on that.”
The forest service doesn’t do prescribed burns during the summer when it is hot and windy, and the days are long. Usually they do it in the fall and try to get it done before the snow falls.
Visitors should contact the Heber-Kamas Ranger District office (435) 654-0470, or the Kamas office, (435) 783-4338 to confirm when the prescribed burns are scheduled.