Prescribed burn: MNF - 5,000-acres

Mendocino National Forest (MNF) - 5,000-acre burns planned for National forest

Nearly 5,000 acres of rugged backcountry will be torched over the next two months in the Mendocino National Forest in a bid to keep the summer wildfire season in check.

Huge plumes of smoke may be visible across the nearly 1 million-acre forest, which sprawls across six counties including Mendocino, Lake and Trinity, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The "prescribed burns" underscore a shift in federal firefighting tactics away from the past century's practice of fighting any fire on public lands at any cost.

The firefighting expenses, especially in remote regions, have proven enormous,

Matt Ellis, a Mendocino Forest firefighter, said the chances of major firestorms are lessened when areas of heavy underbrush, chaparral and tall grasses are burned early in the year.

Safe spring burning depends on adequate moisture levels, appropriate air temperatures, wind conditions and humidity levels, he said.

Ellis said this year's deliberately set fires will be aimed at reducing heavy underbrush, which when ignited in the dry season has fueled raging infernos.

Mendocino National Forest has a long history of such fires, including the 1953 Grindstone Fire in which 15 firefighters lost their lives.

Five years ago, a lightning storm moved across the national forest, setting 77 different fires over the course of two hours northeast of Lake Pillsbury in the Upper Lake Ranger District.

But a fire in the Tar Flat area was contained to only 400 acres because of earlier prescribed burns, which slowed the spread of flames.

The largest planned burn this year is in the brushy Tar Flat area, where 2,256 acres will be set on fire.

Most of the other burns are planned in the Upper Lake and Covelo districts of the national forest, with the remaining in the Grindstone district on the forest's eastern flank.

Areas targeted are located around Lake Pillsbury, Elk Mountain Road, Howard Lake, High Valley, Horse Mountain, Pine Mountain and Howard Mill.

Source: THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

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