CA-ENF- CAT ANDERSON - PRESCRIBED BURN -

Prescribed Burn In Progress - Smoke

The Cat Anderson Prescribed Burn north of Highway 88 is in progress this week. As of Thursday morning several hundred acres had been treated under controlled conditions. Normally, the wind blows from the southwest and pushes the smoke into the forest and away from the valley. Wednesday night the wind shifted and pushed the smoke to the west into the valley. The wind has shifted back and the storm that is due in this afternoon or evening should clear the smoke. We have the project fully staffed, and the burn is progressing well and is within it's containment lines. Fire is a natural part of the ecosystem and the prescribed burn allows us to introduce it back into the forest after a 100 years of fire suppression under carefully controlled conditions.

Note: Fuels Projects for Fall/Winter 2008

Approximately 9,000 acres of national forest lands are scheduled to be prescribed burned this fall and winter, in both pile and understory fire application. Pile burning begins after the rains have thoroughly dampened the forest floor and will continue throughout the winter months. The timing of the actual ignition of a prescribed burn project depends on weather conditions, moisture in the fuels we intend to burn, our ability to control the fires, and permission from the local air pollution control district.

• Cat - Anderson Prescribed Burn (Amador Ranger District/Leek Springs-Middle Fork of the Cosumnes River area):The Cat – Anderson burn on the Amador district will continue to reintroduce fire into the forest. Prescribed fire helps reduce heavy fuel loads while simultaneously opening the forest structure and maintaining the health of the forest. It improves and regenerates wildlife habitat, enhances native plant communities, and is a critical part of the ecological process of western forests.
• Henry's Prescribed Burn (Placerville Ranger District/Grizzly Flat area): The Henrys burn will link numerous hazardous fuels projects already completed and in progress that have occurred in and around the community of Grizzly Flats. The Henrys burn will treat fuels below the Grizzly Flats community in the north fork of the Consumes River.
• Van Vleck Meadow Restoration project (Pacific Ranger District): The Van Vleck Meadow Restoration project on the Pacific District has progressed with the removal of encroaching conifers that are filling in the meadows and will follow up with prescribed fire to clean up and rejuvenate the meadow systems.
• Pile Burning (Multiple locations)

Every prescribed burn is designed to minimize smoke drifting into residential areas. Any one with respiratory illness or thinks the smoke might adversely affect them should contact the nearest Eldorado National Forest Ranger Station to be placed on a “sensitive persons” pre-burn notification list. Smoke may continue to be present for days after the fires are started due to the large scale of the projects and will be visible from the Highway 88 and 50. Persons driving in the vicinity of the burns may encounter reduced highway visibility.

Prescribed Burn Location Maps by District

• Amador Ranger District (2.2 M pdf)
• Placerville Ranger District (2.4 M pdf)
• Pacific Ranger District (2.1 M pdf)