Due to drying vegetation, increasing daytime temperatures and some human-caused fires multiple agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the Nevada Division of Forestry (NDF), announce the implementation of fire restrictions on all lands under their jurisdiction effective Saturday, July 29 until further notice.
Stage 1 Fire restrictions prohibit the following until further notice:
l. Building, maintaining, attending, or using a fire, campfire, or stove fire except a portable stove using gas, jellied petroleum, or pressurized liquid fuel outside of a developed fee campground or picnic area (except by permit).
2. Smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site, or when stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter that is barren or cleared; of all flammable material.
3. Operating or parking a vehicle or other motorized equipment over or on top of dried/cured vegetation.
4. Welding, metal grinding, or operating an acetylene or other torch with open flame (except by permit).
STAGE 1- Exemptions
An exemption does not absolve an individual or organization from liability or responsibility for any fire started by the exempted activity.
1. Persons with a written permit that specifically authorizes the otherwise prohibited act.
2. Persons using a fire solely fueled by liquid petroleum or liquified petroleum gas fuels. Such devices, including propane campfires, may be used only in an area cleared of flammable material.
3. Private landowners using charcoal (disposed of properly) or propane barbecues on their own lands.
4. Persons conducting activities in those designated areas where the activity is specifically authorized by written posted notice.
5. Any federal, state, or local officer or member of an organized rescue or firefighting force, in the performance of an official duty.
All agencies recommend when operating vehicles or equipment traveling on or using wildland areas to have at least an axe, shovel and one gallon of water and to carry cell phones while in the wildlands or national forests to report wildfires.
As fire season continues all agencies will be aggressively citing those who do not comply with the posted restrictions.
Violation of these prohibitions is subject to punishment by a fine and/or imprisonment. Persons may also be responsible for resource damage, suppression costs and any injuries that occur if they are found liable for causing a wildfire.
Affected areas include the following:
BLM - All areas, roads, and trails on the Bureau of Land Management-Carson City District outside of developed recreation sites except for Moon Rocks Recreation Area. These restrictions are in addition to and not separate from those which were issued at the BLM state level.
BIA - All lands administered by the BIA located within or adjacent to the BLM NV Carson City District. Approximately 300 allotments encompassing 59,310 acres in Douglas County, Nevada, within the Carson Watershed that the U.S. Government (BIA) holds in trust for hundreds of individual Indian landowners, collectively known as the Pine Nut Allotments.
RECLAMATION - The order applies to Reclamation-administered lands within the Newlands Project boundary administered by the Lahontan Basin Area Office, in Churchill, Lyon, Storey, and Washoe counties. Exception: the Lahontan Recreation Area.
USFWS - All areas, roads, and trails within the boundaries of the Stillwater, Anaho Island and Fallon National Wildlife Refuges. Campfires are prohibited on these refuge lands year-round.
NDF – State Parks and recreation areas in the Western region, including Washoe Lake, Mormon Station, Lahontan Lake, Buckland Station, Walker River, Dayton, Fort Churchill and Rye Patch State Parks. State Park staff may further restrict activities, such as building and maintaining campfires within approved fire enclosures or designated picnic areas based on local conditions and when “Red Flag” conditions are in place.
All agencies are asking the public to be extremely careful when recreating on state and federal lands and call 911 to report any fires.
For more information or clarification on the restrictions, please contact the BLM-Carson City District Office at 775-885-6000; the BIA at 775-887-3500; Reclamation at 916-978-5101; USFWS at 775-423-5128; and NDF at 775-684-2709 or go to https://www.nevadafireinfo.org/.
(The Bureau of Land Management-Carson City District assisted with this report.)
