By Alison Madsen
Uinta National Forest personnel plan to set Utah forest land on fire this fall.
Forest Service officials plan to implement two prescribed burns, one in Cascade Springs near the Alpine Loop, the other in Dry Fork in American Fork Canyon. The project will include three burn blocks and total 3800 acres.
'We plan to have prescribed burns be an annual thing, although it won''t always be the same areas,' said Loyal Clark, spokeswoman for the Uinta National Forest.
The burns will create diverse vegetation for wildlife, reduce the risk and severity of wildfires by reducing hazardous fuels, reduce the occurrence of insects and disease, reintroduce fire into the ecosystem and reduce the threat of catastrophic fires to homes near project areas, according to a Uinta National Forest news release.
Fire is a natural process and the prescribed burns, which do not burn as long as wild fires, will be used to help restore a healthy ecosystem.
Clark said that the Forest Service hopes to accomplish three things with the burns.
First, the burns will remove the accumulation of leaves, needles and other materials that increase the risk of a wildfire.
Second, the burns will allow for growth of new species in the area that will attract new wildlife.
Third, fire is a natural part of the ecosystem. By repressing it, as has been done with past fire control procedures, it has become only a matter of time until the area does burn by wildfire.
Controlled burns are also used to create mosaic patterns in the vegetation that act as natural fire breaks. These fire breaks will protect homes and other developments surrounding the areas in the event of a wildfire by slowing the burn and allowing firefighters more time to reach the scene and gain control of the fire.
The method being used is called 'prescribed burning' because the fires will only be started when pre-planned conditions exist, such as air temperature, relative humidity, fuel moisture, and wind speed and direction.
'Our prescribed burns will only burn for three to five days, instead of weeks, which will help to maintain air quality,' Clark said.
Fires will only be ignited when weather forecasts allow for good smoke dispersal away from populated areas.
However, Heber, Midway, Park City, Kamas, Northern Utah County and Southern Salt Lake County may experience temporary air quality degradation.
Qualified fire personnel will ignite the fires from the ground and from helicopters. The fires will then be monitored and controlled by hand crews and engines.
Determining whether or not to use prescribed burns included considering factors such as how the vegetation will respond to fire, weather conditions that would be necessary to successfully ignite and control the fires, proximity to private land and structures, public safety and acceptance and cost.