COMMERCE CITY, Colo. - Weather permitting, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be conducting prescribed burning activities on the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge beginning Monday, Oct. 13. The agency plans to burn up to 2,070 acres over several weeks. The burns will be conducted between 9 am and 4 pm. Smoke will be visible for several miles from the perimeter of the refuge and people in the area may smell smoke.
The purpose of the burns is to reinvigorate the growth of native prairie vegetation, reduce accumulated litter, manage efforts for weed control and improve habitat to sustain wildlife. Prescribed burns are also an important tool land managers use to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire in the wildland urban interface.
Interagency fire crews from the Service, local fire departments and other federal agencies will be participating in the prescribed burns. Safety is the number one priority, and every prescribed burn prescribed burn
A prescribed burn is the controlled use of fire to restore wildlife habitat, reduce wildfire risk, or achieve other habitat management goals. We have been using prescribed burn techniques to improve species habitat since the 1930s.
Learn more about prescribed burn is carefully planned to ensure the safety of the surrounding community, public and firefighters.
Before any prescribed burn takes place, refuge managers and fire management specialists work together to create a detailed prescription for where, when and how a fire will be used to restore habitat. This includes strict safety measures, such as a pre- and post- burn monitoring plan, identifying the ideal weather and wind conditions for the prescribed burn to take place and tracking the air quality in the area. Because of the important role weather plays, managers identify a burn window – a specific length of time during which a prescribed burn might take place. The official day and time are not set until a day or few days before to ensure optimum conditions.
If you have questions about the prescribed burn activities, please call the refuge at 303-289-0232.
For information on how prescribed burn smoke may affect your health, please visit https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/wood-smoke-and-health"https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/wood-smoke-and-health.
