Pile burning planned for Price River corridor to restore ecosystem health
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PRICE, Utah — The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Price Field Office plans to burn roughly 200 slash piles across 40 acres along the Price River corridor. The prescribed burn will begin as soon as this week when favorable weather and personnel conditions exist. The burn site is located approximately 2.5 miles east of UT-6 at Woodside, Utah. The piles are the result of a riparian restoration project implemented in 2021 where mechanized equipment was used to cut and pile invasive plants such as tamarisk and Russian olive.
“Not only is removing these plants from the river and riparian corridor important to restoring the health of the ecosystem," said BLM Utah Price Field Office Fuels Specialist Stu Bedke, “but burning the resulting piles both destroys the seedbanks of the invasive plants and cycles nutrients into the soil, making them available for the remaining native species.”
Public lands managed by the Price Field Office will remain open during burning, but the public should avoid areas of active operations for the safety of both visitors and fire personnel. Emergency and fire suppression equipment will be onsite.
To restore Utah’s landscapes in a meaningful way, all vegetation management projects are planned and coordinated through the many land management agencies, partners, wildlife groups and private stakeholders of Utah’s Watershed Restoration Initiative. This prescribed burn will be conducted in cooperation with the State of Utah. We are always appreciative of the collaborative projects we are able to achieve alongside our partners.
Pile burning updates will be provided on Twitter, @BLMUtah, on active burn days. Please reference #UtahRxFire for updated information. For more information on the planned prescribed burn, please call or email the Price Field Office at (435) 636-3600, utprmail@blm.gov.
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.