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West Valley City, Utah–West Desert District fire managers plan to conduct two prescribed burns of juniper slash this fall and winter in Tooele County.  The Stockton Unit, 39 acres in size, is located five miles southeast of the town of Stockton on the west bench of the Oquirrh Mountains.  The 240-acre East Onaqui Unit is six miles southwest of the town of Rush Valley.  The burns are expected to take several days each to complete and may begin as early as this week.      

To prepare each burn, juniper trees were cut last year and allowed to dry.  Both units contain piles of juniper that will be burned.  The East Onaqui Unit also contains scattered juniper cuttings that will be burned using a technique called broadcast burning where the fire carries along the ground. Conducting prescribed fire during the cooler, wetter times of the year allows fire managers to safely use fire to remove hazardous fuels.

The BLM selected the treatment areas in order to reduce hazardous fuel accumulations near several communities including Stockton, Ophir, and Rush Valley.  In addition to community protection, the prescribed fires are expected to restore a functioning fire-adaptive ecosystem, and improve crucial winter wildlife habitat.  Monitoring also shows that fire suppression effectiveness and firefighter safety can be increased by these projects.  These burns are just two of numerous BLM fuel reduction projects that have been implemented in the Rush Valley area over the last decade.

For more information about these projects, go to:  www.utahfireinfo.gov/fuel_projects.html.