| Date: September 8, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fall Burning to Begin on the New Meadows Ranger District
New Meadows, ID – The New Meadows Ranger District of the Payette National Forest may be conducting prescribed burns in the Rapid River Drainage, and the Lost Valley and Round Valley areas as early as September 15th of this year.
The exact start date and end date of the burning will depend on weather conditions. Fire managers hope to ignite approximately 60 acres in the Lost Valley and Round Valley area and 3000 acres in the Rapid River Drainage as part of the New Meadows District’s fall prescribed fire program, which is aimed at restoring ecosystems, reducing fuel accumulations, and improving wildlife habitat.
The locations of the burning include:
- Rapid River Drainage between Paradise Creek and Lakefork Creek, approximately 20 miles north of New Meadows, legal location is T22N R1W sections 28-33 and T21N R1W sections 5 and 6. Smoke may be visible from the community of Riggins and surrounding areas.
- Lost Valley, approximately 10 miles south and west of New Meadows, legal location is T19N R1W section 21. Smoke may be visible from Lost Valley Reservoir and the community of Tamarack and surrounding areas.
- Round Valley, approximately 15 miles north and west of New Meadows, legal location is T20N R1E sections 4 and 5 as well as T21N R1E sections 28, 29, 32, and 33. Smoke may be visible to the Circle C Ranch subdivision and surrounding areas.
Prescribed burning is subject to air quality regulations. All fall prescribed burning would be subject to approval from the Montana/Idaho State Airshed Group. Careful planning (prescription development) and participation in the Montana/Idaho State Airshed Group would reduce the impacts of prescribed burning on air quality by restricting prescribed burning to conditions when smoke dispersal would be optimal. Fire managers ignite prescribed fires when weather conditions allow for optimal smoke dispersal, but smoke is to be expected during prescribed burning and the public is advised to avoid these areas. Signs will be posted in the areas where burning will take place to inform campers and recreationists of ongoing operations. The burning at Lost Valley and Round Valley will be accomplished by hand ignition. The burning in the Rapid River Drainage will be accomplished using a combination of aerial and hand ignition.
Some amount of smoke will likely persist after ignition as pockets of larger fuels continue to smolder. For more information, please contact Shelly Allen or Roger Staats at the New Meadows Ranger District at (208) 347-0336 or (208) 347-0310.
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