Prescribed fire managers in The Lake Tahoe Basin Fall's area will begin their prescribed fire program as early as next week.
The management team includes Fire and Fuel Teams, from local, state and federal fire and land management agencies.
The managers will use different methods to reintroduce fire back into our forests.
This will include pile burning and understory burning, to remove excess branches, limbs, and stumps.
Pile burning is intended to remove these excess fuels that can feed unwanted wildfires.
Understory burning uses controlled application fire to remove excess vegetation. This process produces fire behavior that confines it to a predetermined area.
With fall and winter bringing in cooler temperatures and precipitation, prescribed fire operations are ideal.
The prescribed fire operations take into account temperature, humidity, wind, moisture of vegetation, and conditions for dispersal of smoke before deciding on an area to burn.
Smoke from these operations is normal and may continue for several days after an ignition has taken place.
Prescribed fire managers also work a long side local county and state air pollution control districts to ensure weather conditions are safe.
Road signs will be posted by agencies around areas that will be affected by the prescribed fire. They also send email notifications to update the local fire information line maintained by the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) at (530) 543-2816.
Weather and conditions permitting, California State Parks and the LTBMU may begin prescribed fire operations in Angora Highlands, near Heavenly Mountain Resort, in Tahoma near Rubicon Bay and in Burton Creek, D.L. Bliss and Sugar Pine Point state parks.
Smoke will likely be present. A map with project locations and details is available for viewing at http://www.tahoefft.org. To receive prescribed fire notifications, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.
(The Tahoe Fire and Fuels Team contributed to this report).
