Prescribed fire planned on Lincoln National Forest

Pile burning to occur in La Luz Canyon

CLOUDCROFT, NM, Feb. 1, 2023 – Fire managers on the Sacramento Ranger District of the Lincoln National Forest are planning to continue prescribed fire operations on the West Side Piles project in La Luz Canyon today. Today’s ignitions on one acre of piles will complete the 147-acre project. The West Side Piles project is one of several prescribed fires that are planned in February and continuing throughout 2023:

• Lewis Prescribed Fire, 684 acres, broadcast burn, southeast of Weed
• Jim Lewis Piles, 2,031 acres, pile burn, 11 miles southwest of Weed
• Mayhill and Sacramento Administrative sites, 35 acres

Exact ignition dates will depend upon agency administrator approval and conditions within the ranges outlined in prescribed fire plans. Optimal conditions will result in effective smoke ventilation and dispersal and help achieve the desired effects needed to accomplish the burn plan objectives. 

We cannot meaningfully reduce the risk of wildland fire at the scale needed without restoring fire to the landscape. Prescribed fires are intended to reduce hazardous fuels that have built up due to drought, climate change, insects and disease, and decades of fire suppression. When prescribed fires and other forest thinning projects are placed strategically on the landscape and around communities, if a future wildfire reaches this area, the fire behavior will likely be modified to a less intense, more manageable surface fire due to the absence of accumulated debris.

Smoke may be visible from the communities in Laborcita Canyon and La Luz. Smoke may settle into drainages and lower elevations at night, but is expected to dissipate by late morning, as daytime temperatures increase. Motorists are advised to reduce travel speeds and turn lights on if smoke is encountered on roads.

For additional information about prescribed fire projects on the Sacramento Ranger District, please call 575-682-2551, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Visit the Lincoln National Forest at www.fs.usda.gov/lincoln and follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/LincolnUSForest