Prescribed Burns
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10/20/2011 :
Click Here for BIA News Letter
Click Here for Updated Trated Areas
10/18/2011: Prescribed burning will continue October 19, 2011.
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10/5/2011 : Due to the weather BIA Fire Managemnt will not be conducting any burns. Buring will resume when weather permits
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9/30/2011 : BIA Fire Management/Fire Use Office will not be conducting prescribed burns October 1-2, 2011, Prescribed burns will continue October 3, 2011.
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9/28/2011 : BIA Fire Management/fire Use Office will be conducting prescribed burns within unit D, September 29-30, 2011. Residence within the area of Sawmill, AZ are advised to remain indoors due to the increases of smoke.
For more Information please contact:
BIA Dispatch (928) 729-2307
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Cattail Canyon Prescribed Burn
The burn unit is stuated within the Defiance Plateau Mountain Range Approximately 8 miles North of Sawmill Arizona. The project will take place within Apache County, AZ and encompasses the Following USGS 7.5' topographical maps; Sawmill, Arizona and White, Arizona.
Effective Date |
9/11/11- 12/31/11 |
Planned No of Acres |
200 - 500 acres per |
Type of Buring |
Broadcast burning |
Contacts : Darry Wilson-RXB2 (928) 729-7374 Dominick Chicharello : (928) 729-7385 Ernie L. Watson- PIO : (928) 729-7374 |
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Prescribed Fire Treatments
The natural role of fire is an essential part of the ecological process. Using fire as a tool to achieve resource management objectives is may be the only effective tool natural resource managers have to restore the natural balance of the Wildland on a large-scale.
Prescribed burning is the deliberate and careful application of fire on a landscape. Fire managers cannot perform any kind of prescribed burn without first attending to national Interagency policy for prescribe fire, NEPA, and other environmental compliance requirements. Each treatment requires specific burn plans with measurable burn objectives that clearly defined operational procedures for implementation, monitoring, escapes and contingency resources.
Prescribed burning is a tool managers may use as a singular event, or in combination with other mechanical treatments to reduce fuel build-up. In fire-adapted systems, fire should be present on a recurring cycle that is consistent with the natural fire regimes to sustain ecosystem functionality.
Objectives
- Fuel reduction
- Expose mineral soil for seedbeds for regeneration of wind-disseminated species
- Control of insects, diseases, and competing vegetation
- Improvement of natural ecosystems, wildlife habitat, and range forest
The concept of treating fire with fire is not new to this century. Native Americans deliberately set fires to clear land for horticulture, to improve access, and to change the composition of the plant community to attract game species. Early settlers set fires to assist in preparing the soil for agriculture and to eliminate stubble from the fields in the fall.
The Peshtigo, Michigan, Hinckley, Yacoult and Maine fire burned hundreds of thousand of acres between 1871 and 1947. The Chicago fire in 1871, resulted in the death of 1150 people. In 1910 wildland fire in northern Idaho and Montana burned uncontrolled because of the presence of over 1700 individual fires and high winds. Because of the destruction of human life, property, and resources, the general government policy for most of this century is to utilize fire suppression.
The use of media campaigns such as Smokey the Bear and Bambi fleeing from a fire combined with fire suppression practices has resulted in a build up of fuels on our lands. Fire ecologist expect it will take many more seasons of wildfires to establish a natural fire regime.
For forest regeneration, land managers must assess the area to determine if the site needs preparation. The method select could be mechanical, chemical, biological, manual methods, prescribed fire or a combination of these methods. The method will be determined by the terrain, amount of debris present, and the method for regeneration.
Additional Information or Updates to Visit:
BIA-Branch of Wildland Fire Management
How Smoke from fires can affect your health
Forest Fires and Respiratory Health Fact Sheet
Health Threat From Wilddire Smoke
InciWeb - Incident Information System
National Weather Service Weather Forecast - ABQ, NM
Links of Interest for the Arizona fires
- Arizona Emergency Information Network - www.azein.gov/azein/default.aspx
- Arizona Department of Environmental Quality - Portable Particulate Monitors - www.phoenixvis.net/PPMmain.aspx
- Incident Information System - www.inciweb.org
- U.S.F - Coconino National Forest - www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/conditions/index.shtml
- Coconino Twitter Page - twitter.com/CoconinoNF
- Coconino County - http://www.coconino.az.gov/
- Coconino County Twitter Page - twitter.com/coconinocounty
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - www.noaa.gov
- Navajo Nation Broadcast Services - www.obs.navajo.org
- Navajo Nation Emergency Medical Services - www.navajoems.navajo.org
- Navajo Nation Fire & Rescue - www.firerescue.navajo.org
- Navajo Department Of Transportation - www.navajodot.org
- Arizona Department Of Transportation - www.azdot.gov
- Arizona Department Of Transportation Twitter Page - www.twitter.com/ArizonaDOT
- Arizona Department of Health Services - www.azdhs.gov
Current Prescribed Fire for Arizona and New Mexico