El Paso and Teller Counties…The Pike Ranger District of the Pike National Forest is preparing for a prescribed burn in the Trout West Ecosystem Management Project northwest of Woodland Park near Painted Rocks. The prescribed burn will consist of up to 700 acres and will begin as early as October 12 if weather conditions permit.
Fire managers remind area residents that ignition can take place only when weather and fuel conditions are optimal. The fire needs to be low intensity with minimal smoke impacts to surrounding communities. Once the project begins, burning may last from one to several days, with smoke visible from Highway 67 during burning days and several days following ignition.
Vegetation types are mostly ponderosa pine, grass and shrubs. Most of the timber has been thinned by commercial logging projects and hazard fuels reduction crews and the slash piles from these treatments have been burned over the last two winters. Surface burning of the area is the final step in the process and is designed to reduce the amount of timber needles, duff and small diameter woody debris. Another benefit to the burn is improved soil nutrients and resprouting grass and shrubs for wildlife habitat.
The Trout Creek Prescribed Burn is part of the Trout West Ecosystem Management Project on the Pike & San Isabel National Forests. It is a multi-year undertaking to restore more open conifer stands to the area, increase the amount of grass, shrubs and aspen and reduce dead fuel loading on the forest floor. Historically, lightning-caused fires and Native American burning maintained this preferred condition, but fire suppression and other activities since the turn of the century have led to overstocking of pine and Douglas fir and a reduction of plant diversity. This, in turn, has adversely impacted wildlife and increased the occurrence of large, high-intensity destructive wildfires. It is no longer feasible to let lightning-caused fires burn in most areas, so multi-stage fuels treatments, like the Sledgehammer Prescribed Burn, are the most viable way of restoring forest health and reducing the wildfire threat to land and homeowners.
