The Yellow Jacket prescribed burn east of Bayfield was completed Tuesday just ahead of afternoon rain showers.
A helicopter aerially ignited 944 acres of National Forest lands in the Northern HD mountains south of U.S. Highway 160. A total of 2,539 acres was treated with prescribed fire in the area this week. The earlier planned First Notch prescribed burn north of the highway was postponed.
Daytime smoke from the Yellow Jacket Prescribed Burn drifted north and east into the Upper Piedra drainage and southern Hinsdale County. Nighttime smoke was expected to settle into the Beaver Creek and Sauls Creek drainages. Some haze was visible in Bayfield, and the scent of smoke was at times present.
“The Forest Service thanks area residents for their patience with the resulting smoke,” the agency said in a statement.
Prescribed burning is designed to lower the risk of wildfire to public lands and adjacent communities and to improve wildlife habitat on public lands.
