Lakeside Ranger District burning slash piles

Lakeside, AZ –January 13, 2016; —The Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests’ Lakeside Ranger District will be burning slash piles January 17 through 20, if conditions allow. The ignition area is on Timber Knoll just south of Ojo Bonito Estates. Scattered piles will be burned across roughly 50-75 acres of forest land each day. Ignition is planned for four days only and possible smoke impact is anticipated along Highway 60 and within the Vernon Community. In the interest of safety, forest visitors are reminded to use caution when traveling in the vicinity of the pile burn as smoke may reduce visibility in the area.

Prescribed burning provides many benefits and is essential to maintaining healthy forest ecosystems. It provides habitat diversity, recycles plant nutrients into the soil and encourages new growth for a variety of plants used by wildlife and livestock. Prescribed burning of forest ground fuels also reduces the threat of large scale wildfire impacts to private lands. Crews will be on scene from ignition until there is no longer a threat of escape from the project boundaries. Prescribed fire operations are subject to cancelation due to unfavorable weather conditions or other unforeseen circumstance.

For questions or concerns please contact the Lakeside Ranger District at (928) 368-2100, or dial 311 to reach the Northeastern Arizona Public Information System. Also, check out our website at www.fs.usda.gov/asnf or follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/apachesitgreavesnfs/.