The Tahoe National Forest American River Ranger District has begun its fall prescribed burn program. Fall and winter burning will include roadside hand piles, large machine piles, and up to 450 acres of underburning.

The exact timing of burns depends on specific fuel moisture and weather requirements designed to reduce the possibility of escape, manage smoke concerns, and ensure the best possible conditions for fuel consumption.

Burning is scheduled to occur in the following areas: Foresthill Divide; Humbug Ridge; the Sailor Point area off the Texas Hill Road; and Last Chance. Because smoke may cause diminished visibility during burning operations, forest visitors should stay alert for signs warning of prescribed burning or smoke obscuring the road. People traveling through a prescribed burn area should turn on headlights and be aware that burn personnel may be working along the road.

District fire managers work with the Redding Fire Weather Center and Placer County Air Pollution Control District to plan the prescribed burns to minimize smoke impacts to communities. However, some smoke may settle into the valleys during the evenings and mornings until atmospheric conditions allow for smoke dispersal.

For questions concerning the fall burn program, please contact fire management staff at the American River Ranger Station in Foresthill by calling (530) 367-2224. Daily updates can also be obtained at (530) 367-2224 as the burn program progresses.

For more Tahoe National Forest information, go to http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/tahoe/home.