The Bureau of Land Management is proposing a multiyear project to reduce fire danger on public lands the agency manages around Durango.
The BLM’s Tres Rios Office announced Thursday the plan considers a variety of treatment methods – such as prescribed fires, removing noxious weeds and tree thinning – across approximately 22,000 acres.
Eric Coulter, spokesman for BLM, said the plan looks at the big picture of a fuels reduction effort to treat the broader landscape, as opposed to individual projects.
Across the West, the BLM is implementing these plans in light of more severe fires in recent years.
“We’re also putting an emphasis on areas around communities,” Coulter said, “to protect those communities.”
According to BLM records, the plan calls for using existing roads, trails and natural features as containment lines when possible.
Activities will be avoided during migratory bird peak nesting season from May 1 through June 30. If burning is necessary, the agency said it will do its best to avoid impacts to avian species.
Any work that needs to be done while areas are closed to wildlife between Dec. 1 and April 30 will need approval from Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the BLM said.
The timing of treatments will also take into account high-use recreation areas, such as Grandview, Turtle Lake and Animas City Mountain, to minimize impacts.
The BLM said in its statement that the treatment plan “addresses an immediate need for the agency to reduce the wildfire risk and associated hazards to people and infrastructure, and a long-term need to manage vegetation to minimize future risk from droughts, insects, disease, and wildfire.”
The public can comment on the plan until May 16. To view the plan and comment, visit https://bit.ly/3es9kYT.
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