USFS Announces Prescribed Burns In San Bernardino National Forest

From The U.S. Forest Service: The U.S. Forest Service will implement prescribed burning operations on the San Bernardino National Forest in the upcoming months as conditions allow.

Beginning late fall into the spring the Front Country, San Jacinto and Mountaintop Ranger Districts will conduct burning projects in a continuous effort to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire and improve forest health.

Various methods of prescribed burning will be implemented, including broadcast and pile burning to reduce accumulated fuel loadings on the forest floor and ladder fuels that can carry fire from the forest floor into the canopies of trees.

The ignition of all prescribed burns is dependent on environmental conditions, availability of personnel and equipment. These projects are conducted in coordination with the National Weather Service and South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) before and during prescribed burns in order to manage smoke production and minimize impacts as much as possible.

During this time, firefighters will be conducting broadcast and debris pile burning across the forest in various locations. Signs will be posted along the roadways to alert the public to burning activity. The Forest Service will send out occasional reminders to the public, alerting to potential smoke in the air.

The following list details the plans for this winter’s projected prescribe burns for each district.

San Jacinto Ranger District Prescribed Burn Locations:

Broadcast burning:

· Thomas Mountain, east of Ramona Indian Reservation and west of Garner Valley.

Slash and debris piles burning:

· Pine Cove, south and west of Pine Cove to maintain the Pine Cove fuel break.

· Westridge, southeast of Strawberry Creek and west of Dry Creek.

· Slash and pile burning near various fire stations

Mountaintop Range District Prescribed Burn Locations:

Slash and debris piles burning:

· Along 2N13 and 2N68 road systems to maintain fire roads and evacuation corridors

· Within vegetation management units of the South Big Bear and Baldwin Lake projects to create shaded fuel

· Slash and pile burning near various fire stations

Front Country Ranger District

Broadcast burning

· Santa Ana/1N09 fuelbreak system

· Angelus Oaks community defense zones along Highway 38. This project has five units that will combine pile/broadcast burning.

Slash and debris piles burning:

· Slash and pile burning at various fire stations

https://www.fs.usda.gov/sbnf/

Image Courtesy of Renee Schiavone