Slash pile burning planned for southwest Utah to reduce community wildfire risk
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CEDAR CITY, Utah — With recent winter storms providing extensive moisture across the Bureau of Land Management’s Color Country and Paria River Districts, fire managers plan to take advantage of prime-burning conditions to reduce hazardous fuels (vegetation) across the landscape. Project sites are located near the following areas on BLM-managed public lands:
- Cedar Highlands, southeast of Cedar City in Iron County
- Quichapa Lake, south of Highway 56 in Iron County
- Duncan Creek, north of Highway 56 in Iron County
- Beaver River, south of Highway 21 in Beaver County
- Sauls Meadow, west of Highway 24 in Sevier County
- Lone Cedar, east of Highway 50, northwest of Salina in Sanpete County
“Community wildfire protection is of the highest priority to the agency and our commitment to reducing hazardous fuels on public lands in Iron, Beaver, and Kane counties goes back more than two decades,” said Color Country and Paria River District Fuels Program Manager Shawn Peterson. “We are also working to expand the footprint of our mechanical treatments in future years to further reduce wildfire risk to private property, infrastructure and to recent recreation improvements on public lands.”
This proactive approach helps reduce hazardous accumulations of flammable vegetation near residential homes and private property in high-risk wildfire areas while creating opportunities for firefighters to be successful in the event of a wildfire during the summer months.
Personnel will burn multiple slash piles under conditions that minimize the potential of fire spread and impacts to air quality. Smoke will likely be visible in surrounding areas during the planned fires and is anticipated to impact those areas for a few days once active burning commences.
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.
During active burn days, fire updates will be provided on Twitter @UtahWildfire. Please reference #2023ColorCountryDistrictRx or #2023PariaRiverDistrictRx for updated information.
For more information on preventing unwanted human-caused wildfires and for updates on fire-related information throughout the state of Utah, visit www.UtahFireInfo.gov. Visit www.UtahFireSense.org for more ways to enhance your “Fire Sense” and help prevent human-caused wildfires.
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.