Fire planned for Oak Ridge during fall
Meeker, Colo. – People may see smoke coming from the Oak Ridge State Wildlife Area this fall as the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service conduct a prescribed burn to improve wildlife habitat, reduce wildland fire hazard, and increase shrub age diversity.
The agencies plan to burn approximately 766 acres of the western portion of the Oak Ridge SWA, about 10 miles southeast of Meeker. The dominant plant species is Gambel oak with grass and sagebrush at the lower elevations. The area is a winter concentration area for both elk and mule deer. It’s managed under the Oak Ridge/Lost Park Coordinated Resource Management Plan, whose primary partners are the USFS, BLM, CDOW and Wakara Ranches. BLM will provide the technical oversight and planning and, along with the Forest Service, personnel and equipment. Ground crews are planning to use hand-ignition to conduct the burn with aerial ignition as a back up if more heat is needed to ignite the vegetation.
Objectives of the project include improving critical winter range habitat and forage production to help alleviate pressure on nearby private property; creating a mosaic of burned and unburned vegetation; increasing browse for big game; decreasing short-term large wildland fire hazard by reducing fuel loadings; and increasing age diversity of the shrub species.
Weather and fuel-moisture conditions will be closely monitored, and the burn will only be initiated if conditions are ideal for safe and effective fires. Each prescribed burn conducted by the Northwest Colorado Fire Management Unit has a detailed fire plan developed in advance, along with appropriate smoke permits obtained from state agencies. Prescribed fires are one of many tools public land managers use to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires while improving wildlife habitat and overall land health.