Planned Burn is Coming Soon in Sp. Fork Canyon
By Jens Dana Deseret Morning News
Should you spot black smoke funnels curling out of Spanish Fork Canyon sometime during October, don’t panic and call 911 or the U.S. Forest Service.
They’ll already know what’s going on, said Loyal Clark, a spokeswoman for Uinta National Forest. In fact, they’re the ones who will be responsible.
Uinta National Forest personnel will conduct a prescribed burn near the Rays Valley area north of U.S. 6 in Spanish Fork Canyon sometime between Oct. 5 and Oct. 30. Clark said the planned 2,000- acre burn is part of a five-year field-reduction program to weed out excessive vegetation and to reduce the risk of massive wildfires.
“This area is one that hasn’t had fire in it for a long time,” she said.
In the absence of fire, the aspen, Gambel oak and spruce in the Rays Valley have become overgrown and are choking out native habitat for wildlife such as elk–a favorite of hunters, Clark said. Forest personnel are just waiting for the right weather conditions to light the fire and restore environmental equilibrium, she said.
Monitors will be watching the valley until air temperature, relative humidity, fuel moisture and wind speed and direction reach optimal levels, Clark said. If those acceptable conditions aren’t met, she said, they won’t start the fire.
Forest personnel take these measures to reduce the chance of fire running wild, Clark said, which happens sometimes. Most recently, the Bureau of Land Management started a prescribed burn six miles southwest of Beaver. Unexpected storms stoked the fire, and it burned 14,600 acres before it was contained.
The Uinta National Forest has its own experience with a prescribed burn that went terribly wrong. The U.S. Forest Service’s plan to burn 600 acres containing 150-year-old oak underbrush near Cascade Springs in September 2003 got out of hand and burned more than 8,000 acres before the Forest Service contained it.
Clark acknowledged the risks involved with prescribed burns, but she said the successful burns far outnumber the ones “that have gotten away.” She also said the Forest Service plans to have a crew of 50 to 70 on hand just in case.
Clark said members of the public often ask, “Why don’t we just leave everything alone?” She answers that fire is essential to an ecosystem’s health. Without it, underbrush can accumulate until lightening strikes and a massive wildfire can spread.
“Would you rather trust us to do something that we’ve been doing for years and years with success, or just leave it for that potential of a large-scale wildfire?” she asked.
The prescribed burn should only last about a week, Clark said, and shouldn’t affect townspeople because it will occur far up the canyon.
Clark also requested hunters and campers planning to be in Spanish Fork Canyon be aware of posted signs identifying the areas to be burned.
E-mail: jdana@desnews.com
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