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BLM Plans Ten Pile Burns in Eastern Colorado

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Bureau of Land Management

BLM Office:

Rocky Mountain District Office

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CAÑON CITY, Colo - The Bureau of Land Management is preparing to conduct pile burns in nine locations this winter. The specific locations of the pile burns are listed below. 

Pile burns could occur as early as October 2018 or any time through March 2019, depending on favorable weather and fuel moisture conditions. The objective of the pile burns is to remove the slash left behind from timber harvests and previous fuels, thinning treatments. These timber harvests and fuels treatments remove beetle-killed timber and other fuels, reducing the risk of future catastrophic wildfire. They also help create various stages of plant succession, which is critical to the health of fire-adapted ecosystems.

Smoke from the pile burns will be visible throughout the day of the burn, mostly during the warmest part of the day. With cooler temperatures in the evening, smoke may linger and accumulate in low-lying areas. 

According to the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division, “Prescribed fire smoke may affect your health. For more information see https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/wood-smoke-and-health”

For additional information, contact Matt Norden, Fire Operations Specialist, (719) 269-8583, at the BLM Rocky Mountain District Front Range Fire and Aviation Management Unit in Cañon City.       

  1. Hole in the Rock – 2,400 piles. Legal Location: T16S / R70W / S 7. Piles are hand piles and the surrounding fuel type is Ponderosa Pine, Piñon Pine, Juniper and Gambel Oak. The burn is located north of Cañon City off of Fremont County Road 11 and east of the High Park Subdivision.
  2. Whiskey – 4,000 piles. Legal Location: T16S / R71W / S 8, 9. Piles are large hand piles and the surrounding fuel type is Ponderosa Pine, Piñon Pine, Juniper and grass. The burn is located 6.5 miles southwest of Cripple Creek, south of Fremont County Road 11 and west of the High Park Subdivision.
  3. Likely Gulch – 2,000 piles. Legal Location: T20S / R73W / S 5, 6. Piles are hand piles and the surrounding fuel type is Piñon Pine, Juniper and Ponderosa Pine. The burn is located south of Texas Creek off of CO Highway 69 and Road Gulch.
  4. Mt. Harvard Estates – 2,000 piles. Legal Location: T13S / R79W / S 13. Piles are hand piled Piñon Pine limbs, and the surrounding fuels are Piñon Pine, Juniper and grass. The burn is located 5.5 miles North of Buena Vista, CO, 0.5 mile East of US HW 24, and immediately North and East of the Mt. Harvard Estates subdivision.
  5. Tyndall – 4 piles. Legal Location: T22S / R71W / S 16. Piles are machine piles and have a surrounding fuel type of Ponderosa Pine and grass. The burn is located 3 miles north of Rosita, 7.5 miles east of Westcliffe and south of CO Highway 96, near Mount Tyndall.
  6. Stoney Face – 30 piles. Legal Location: T50N / R11E / S 3, 10. Piles are machine piles and surrounding fuel type is Engelmann Spruce and Aspen. The burn is located 15 miles north of Cotopaxi on the north side of Stoney Face Mountain, near Firebox Road.
  7. Turkey Gulch – 55 piles. Legal Location: T20S / R73W / S 15. Piles are a combination of hand and machine piles. The surrounding fuel type is Piñon Pine and Juniper with scattered Ponderosa Pine. The burn is located 15 miles southwest of Cañon City, 4 miles east of CO Highway 69 and west of the Copper Gulch area.
  8. North Cotopaxi – 467 piles. Legal Location: T49N / R12E / S 19, 31. Piles are a combination of hand and machine piles. The surrounding fuel type is Piñon, Juniper, Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir. There are three separate locations with piles. The burn is located 5 miles north of Cotopaxi, east of the Spruce Basin subdivision, and on both sides of Fremont County Road 12.
  9. Thompson Mountain – 35 piles. Legal Location: T17S / R71W / S 6. Piles are machine piles with a surrounding fuel type of Ponderosa Pine, Piñon Pine, Juniper, and Gambel Oak. The burn is located 13 miles northwest of Cañon City, 2 miles east of CO Highway 9, and in the Deer Haven area near Thompson Mountain.
  10. Jack Hall Mountain – 100 piles. Legal Location: T50N / R11E / S 21,28. Piles are machine piles with a surrounding fuel type of Engelmann Spruce, Douglas Fir and Aspen. The burn in located 8 miles north/northeast of Howard, CO, 1.5 miles west of Fremont CR 12. 

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The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.