National Grassland jackpot burning planned for this week

PRINEVILLE, Ore. – Fire managers on the Crooked River National Grassland plan to take advantage of favorable weather starting Wednesday to begin ignitions on around 500 acres of jackpot slash within three burn units near Juniper Butte along Highway 97, about 10 miles southwest of Madras.

Jackpot burning addresses high concentrations of naturally-occurring or thinning-related downed woody debris.

The objective for this jackpot burn is to reduce fuel loading and fire danger in areas where high concentrations of juniper slash are left over from personal use firewood cutting. The project falls within the Jefferson County Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

Ignitions will last for two or three days and smoke will be visible along Highway 97, but no delays or impacts to highway traffic are expected.

The most visible burn unit is located at the base of Juniper Butte near the intersection of Highway 97 and Monroe Lane. Another unit is located 4 miles to the east along Ramms Road, and a third unit is located 2 miles to the south of Ramms Road in the Henderson Flat area, northwest of Gray Butte. See attached map.

Ignitions are planned to begin at 9:30 Wednesday morning.

All prescribed burning is proposed, analyzed, and planned ahead of time by the Forest Service as part of restoration and fuels management projects. Fuels specialists follow policies outlined in the Oregon Smoke Management Plan, which governs prescribed fires (including pile burning) and attempts to minimize impacts to visibility and public health.

For more information, visit the Ochoco National Forest website at www.fs.usda.gov/ochoco and follow us on Twitter @CentralORFire.