Prescribed Burns in the Skyland Area This Week

Fuels management operations will be held on Tuesday, just north of Zephyr Cove in the Skyland area. The U.S. Forest Service crew will be burning five acres on the east side of Hwy 50 and is expected to last one day.

People in the area should expect to see smoke.

Forest Service staff will post road signs around the areas affected by the prescribed fire, send email notifications, and update the local fire information line at 530-543-2600, #6. To receive prescribed fire notifications, send an email to pa_ltbmu@fs.fed.us.

Prescribed fire is a valuable land management tool. Prescribed fire also produces smoke, but the smoke is typically short-lived and managed to minimize impacts unlike wildfires. Prescribed fire and other fuels treatments help to reduce the severity of wildfires and minimize adverse impacts on public health and safety.

All prescribed fire projects are conducted in accordance with an approved prescribed fire burn plan. Burn plans describe specific conditions under which operations are conducted including the weather, number of personnel, opportunities to minimize smoke impacts, and available burn days. This information is used to decide when and where to burn.

For more information on prescribed fire and smoke management tips, visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/ltbmu/RxFireOps.

To learn more about the efforts to reduce wildfire risks in the Tahoe Basin read the Lake Tahoe Basin Multi-jurisdictional Fuel Reduction Plan found at http://fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsm9_045864.pdf.

Visit an excellent web site and learn about Prescribed Fire vs. Wildfire at: http://www.smokeybear.com/prescribed-fires.asp.