Date: February 13, 2011
Contact: Fire Management Office, (530) 242-3443
Whiskeytown National Recreation Area is planning to conduct 50 – 300 acres of prescribed burning over the next several weeks, weather and air quality conditions permitting. The Buck and East Boundary Prescribed Burns are located along the east boundary of Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, which borders private property and a small portion of land administered by Bureau of Land Management above the community of Old Shasta.
Whiskeytown’s Fire Management program is committed to reducing hazardous fuels build up, protecting communities at risk, and working toward long-term forest health. The overall safety of firefighters and the public are the primary goals of these projects. Temperature, humidity and winds will be monitored to ensure safe and effective burn conditions and favorable air quality. Critical to the success of these burns are ignitions under north and east transport wind conditions to help disperse smoke away from the Redding area. An additional element required for the successful implementation of this project will be the drying of fuels in order to attain desirable burn effects.
“The south and east sides of the park are thick with dense pockets of brush and small diameter trees. These burns help reduce the heavier fuel profiles that can carry high intensity fires toward neighboring communities and contribute to dangerous conditions for the public and firefighters,” stated Superintendent Jim Milestone.
To help protect visitors and firefighters there may be controlled traffic along Muletown Road during implementation of the Buck Prescribed Burn project. Several trails in the vicinity may also be closed including the Buck Hollow and Salt Creek Loop Trails within the park.
Fire crews may ignite individual units within each project area on multiple days if conditions are favorable. All efforts will be made to minimize smoke impacts to surrounding communities through coordination with the Shasta County Air Quality Management District. Smoke will be generally visible from the Redding and Anderson areas during active ignition operations.
For additional information, please call: the Fire Management Office at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area at 530-242-3443. Information about road and trail closures can be found on the park website: https://www.nps.gov/whis or by calling the Visitor Center at 530-246-1225.
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