Pagosa Ranger District will conduct a controlled burn of about 400 acres of ponderosa pine, Gambel oak and grass in the Turkey Springs-Brockover Mesa area northwest of Pagosa Springs as part of an overall fuels-reduction project that includes mechanical treatment and prescribed burns of nearly 5,000 acres.
Operations are scheduled to begin the week of April 24 and take place over several days, depending on weather conditions.
The burns will take place adjacent to Turkey Springs, on Forest Service Road 629, and Brockover, on Forest Service Road 919.
Ponderosa pine forests are a fire-adapted ecosystem and have historically experienced frequent, low-intensity, large-scale fires. The prescribed fire is designed to reduce hazardous ground fuels, reduce the risk of unplanned catastrophic wildfire, restore ponderosa pine ecosystems and improve wildlife habitat.
For more information, call Fred Ellis, assistant fire management officer at Pagosa Ranger District, at 264-1541.
