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Blazing hot forecast cancels prescribed burn in Boise National Forest

Patrick Orr - porr@idahostatesman.com

Published: 05/18/09


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Boise National Forest officials had to cancel a prescribed burn Monday on 3,500 acres of forest by the Arrowrock Reservoir because it is going to be too hot.

With temperatures set to hit as high as 96 degrees in the Treasure Valley and a few degrees cooler than that in the higher elevations, the conditions aren’t conducive for a prescribed burn, Boise National Forest spokesman Dave Olson said.

Another issue brought on by the hot, still weather Monday would be poor smoke disbursement from the fire, Olson said.

Boise National Forest officials say they hope to set the burn later this week when temperatures drop.

The 3,500-acre prescribed burn will be set about 2 miles north of Arrowrock Reservoir, in the Cottonwood Creek drainage. Arrowrock Reservoir is northeast of Lucky Peak.

The burn is being set as part of a plan to reduce fuels and improve wildlife habitat on about 8,000 acres of the Boise National Forest year. The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is a partner in this project.

Boise National Forest officials say the low-intensity Cottonwood burn should reduce fuel loads, diminish the risk of uncharacteristic severe wildfire later in the season, and help restore the natural role of fire in this ecosystem.

This Cottonwood burn will be in an area that has seen active wildfires in the past.

The Star Gulch Fire burned thousands of acres in 1994, changing much of the watershed from a forested site to brushy vegetation. The trees in a small portion of that fire survived that fire because that area was treated with an prescribed burn earlier that year, Olson said.

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