Date: April 10, 2017
Contact: Nancy Stimson, 307 467 5283
Devils Tower, WY –
Devils Tower National Monument will take advantage of the recent rainfall to conduct a prescribed burn within the next few weeks. Fire managers from the Northern Great Plains Fire Management Office and Devils Tower National Monument plan to burn 85 acres near the entrance station and east of the Belle Fourche River within the Monument.
The prescribed burn will remove build-up of dead fuels and woody herbaceous growth and encourage the growth of native prairie grasses and forbs. Prescribed burns return a key natural process to the landscape, improve the health of the ecosystem, and lessen the chance of intense wildland fire in the future.
Prescribed burns are carefully planned, conducted within an approved boundary and ignited only when specific weather conditions align, such as humidity, fuel moisture, wind speed and direction, and favorable short and long range weather forecasts. If conditions are not acceptable on the scheduled day of the burn, it will be postponed until desirable conditions return.
Fire managers plan to burn the acreage in one day. During the prescribed burn, residents and visitors should expect periods of heavy smoke in the area. Smoke may be visible for up to a week or more after the burn. Please use extra caution driving in the smoke.
To learn more about Devils Tower National Monument visit www.nps.gov/deto or www.facebook.com/Devils-Tower-National-Monument-Official-NPS-Site or twitter.com@DevilsTowerNM or Instagram at #devilstowernps
About the National Park Service: More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 417 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Visit us at www.nps.gov. on Facebook www.facebook.com/nationalparkservice, Twitter www.twitter.com/natlparkservice, and YouTube www.youtube.com/nationalparkservice.
~NPS~
