Prescribed burn around MacNab Campground Mid-Oct.

The Sioux Ranger District is planning a prescribed burn in the Ekalaka Hills Land Unit around the MacNab Pond Campground the week of October 16th. Prescribed burn efforts will happen as weather and fuel conditions, as well as resource availability, allow.

“Prescribed fire will be a follow-up treatment following the Russell Timber Sale from 2009,” said Sioux District Ranger Kurt Hansen. “We hope to maintain a more open pine understory in the area given the proximity of homes, the campground, county roads and HWY 323 in this particular area. This second treatment should allow us to remove some of the small trees that have been coming in since the timber sale.”

This approximately 200-acre prescribed burn is part of the ongoing Ekalaka Hazardous Fuels Project, which has included timber sale, ponderosa pine thinning, pile burning and broadcast burns. The area has been identified as a Wildland Urban Interface location, and treatments have been ongoing to prevent hazardous fuels from building up on the forest, with privately owned homes adjacent to this location.

There will be anticipated smoke impacts on Highway 323, Prairie Dale Road, Ponderosa Lane and surrounding homes. The smoke from prescribed burning should dissipate several days after ignition, and most of the smoke after the prescribed burn will come from dead logs.

The District also plans to conduct pile burning this winter in the Ekalaka Hills, East Short Pines, Slim Buttes and Long Pines land units to reduce hazardous fuels on the landscape. This work will take place when conditions are favorable, there are at least 2 inches of snow on the ground and crews are available. When pile burning occurs, the public can expect to see smoke, and possibly flames, depending on their proximity to these locations.

For further information or inquiries, please contact the Sioux Ranger District Office at 605-797-4432.