Center Creek Piles Prescribed Fire

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Color Country District

Contact Information: Clair Jolley, 435-865-4669, [email protected] or Jill Ivie, 435-896-1573, [email protected]

Planned Date: February 14 – March 4, 2022. Fire personnel anticipate 5-burn days to complete the project.

Location: The project site, located on BLM administered land that borders Forest Service and private lands, sits six miles east of Antimony, Utah in Garfield County.

Project Description: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Color Country District plans to burn 89 acres of slash piles within the Center Creek area of Garfield County, when favorable weather conditions permit.  

Piles were created from a previous hand thinning project which included the cutting of live pinyon pine and juniper trees with chainsaws. Pile burning takes place once the cut vegetation has had an opportunity to dry out and when adequate snow is present, to prevent fire spread.

Project Goals:

• Reduce the risk of insect, disease, and stand replacing wildfires, by removing dense-closed canopy ladder fuels from encroached pinyon/juniper trees.
• Improve age class and stand structure by removing pinyon/juniper to create a space for regeneration of desirable ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and aspen.
• Improve understory vegetation with desirable varieties of grass and forbs for the benefit of livestock, wildlife, and watershed protection.
• Restore fire-adaptive ecosystems to federal, state, and nearby private lands.

Partnerships: This project and previous nearby projects have been supported by various partners including the Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative (WRI), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR), Sportsman for Fish & Wildlife (SFW), Mule Deer Foundation (MDF), School and Institutional Trust Lands (SITLA), local permittees, private landowners, and members of the public.

Other Information: Updates will be provided on Twitter @UtahWildfire. Please reference #CenterCreekRx.

For more ways to enhance your “Fire Sense” and help prevent human-caused wildfires, visit www.UtahFireSense.org. 

For more information about Utah’s Watershed Restoration Initiative (WRI) and to learn more about projects and happenings in your area, please visit https://wri.utah.gov

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 Western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.