Two prescribed burns are being conducted on the Klamath National Forest today.

Klamath National Forest firefighters had a successful week burning out at the at the Thompson Ranch WUI Prescribed Burn project, accomplishing a total of nearly 600 acres on Wednesday and Thursday.

Prescribed fire is an effective and cost-efficient tool to reduce fuel loadings, improve forest health, and improve wildlife habitat and forage within the fire adapted ecosystems of the Klamath National Forest. The objectives of this burn was to reduce fuel loadings for firefighter and public safety, improve Ponderosa pine stand health, address juniper encroachment and improve forage and habitat for wildlife. 

Firefighters will continue to patrol the burn in the coming days. 

On the east side of the Klamath National Forest, firefighters have initiated a prescribed burn five miles north of Tennant. 300 acres are planned for ignition today with up to 658 acres slated for burning over the next three days if conditions remain favorable. Motorists on Highway 97 may see smoke from the burn.

This prescribed burn is on the Goosenest Ranger District and is part of the Thompson Ranch Wildland Urban Interface project, which aims to improve conditions in pine stands and sagebrush flats near private property. The project is designed to reduce fire hazards to firefighters and private landowners by decreasing fuel loading, reducing the risk of bark beetle infestation by thinning pine stands with fire, reducing the encroachment of western juniper to sagebrush flats, and improving forage and habitat for wildlife.

Today crews from Oak Knoll are burning 5 acres of piles in the Horse Creek drainage between Howard's Gulch and the Horse Creek Road. Smoke may be visible to motorists on Highway 96. If conditions allow, crews could burn up to 50 acres of piles in this area over the next few days. 
 

This week pile burning resumes on both the Happy Camp/Oak Knoll and the Salmon/Scott River Ranger Districts.

Happy Camp/Oak Knoll will be burning in the Horse Creek drainage in the Hamburg Gulch area.  10 acres is planned for today.  Pile burning will continue in this area all week with up to 80 acres to be completed.

Salmon/Scott River will be burning more piles in the Craggy Project, Greenhorn Ridge project area.  Today 20 acres is planned near Montana Peak.  Smoke may be visible in Yreka.

10 - 25 acres is planned each day through Thursday in the Greenhorn Creek area if conditions allow ignited piles to be fully consumed.

Conditions have dried out enough this week that we have some potential for issues if we burn.  For this reason, it has been decided to curtail any pile burning this week.


Over the weekend, the snow level is predicted to drop down to 1800 feet.  Conditions will be re-evaluated next Monday to see if pile burning can resume.

In the Oak Knoll Division, 500 acres of piles have already been burned so far this winter.  Patrols will continue to monitor the previously ignited units this week.

The Happy Camp/Oak Knoll District continued pile burning today, completing ten acres of burning up Horse Creek in the Hamburg Gulch area. 

Salmon/Scott River fire personnel continue to patrol previously lit piles in the Greenhorn Ridge and Greenhorn Creek areas.  

Pile burning continues this week in the Happy Camp/Oak Knoll Ranger District.

6 acres of piles is planned for today near Beaver Creek Campground.

Monday and Tuesday, 18 acres of piles were burned approximately a mile northwest of the Oak Knoll Work Center.

In the Salmon/Scott River Ranger District, firefighters are continuing to patrol ignitions from last week in the Greenhorn Ridge area. 

Today the Salmon/Scott Ranger District is burning in the area of Greenhorn Creek.  30 acres is planned.
 
   

Both the Happy Camp/Oak Knoll Ranger District and the Salmon/Scott River Ranger District continue to burn piles today.

An additional 10 acres of piles is planned for today in the Greenhorn Creek area of the Salmon/Scott River District.

15 acres is planned for the Hamburg Gulch area in the Horse Creek drainage, project area 116-56 on the Happy Camp/Oak Knoll District.