Pile burning resumes Sept. 29 as part of the Forest Service’s efforts to improve forest and watershed health in Parleys Canyon.
The organization says the Parleys Creek watershed provides 17 to 20% of the water supply to Salt Lake City.
The Central Wasatch Watershed Restoration project has involved hand-thinning brush in Parleys and Lambs Canyon to create slash piles.
The Forest Service says it will take precipitation, fuel moisture, wind, temperature, air quality and firefighter staffing into account before igniting any piles.
It reminds the public that smoke, flames and glowing embers are often visible, which are a normal part of slash pile burning.
The Forest Service also acknowledged in a press release that these operations add smoke to the atmosphere. It said its employees are following air quality regulations and prescribed burns rarely emit enough smoke to cause unsafe air quality levels.
"This is important work to improve the health of our forest, protect our watersheds and safeguard our communities and region from the threat of catastrophic wildfire we've seen, and have been impacted by from across the globe," said Carl Fisher, executive director of Save Our Canyons.
"There's no question this work is intensive, but we've already seen regeneration of aspens that have been encroached upon by conifers, due to the absence of fire from the landscape. Fire plays a critical role in our forests, our object is to help the ecosystem thrive, and do better as we learn more through community engagement, research, monitoring, and science."
The Forest Service expects burns to continue into late October.
