BLM plans prescribed burn along State Road 279
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Within the next few weeks the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Canyon Country Fire Zone will be conducting a prescribed fire on the Colorado River side of State Road 279 (Potash Road), BLM officials announced this week.

The planned burn will be conducted in an area along the river about one-half mile downstream from the Poison Spider Trail entrance. The BLM chose the area so that it can closely monitor the effect of prescribed fire on a thick stand of tamarisk that has been defoliated by the tamarisk leaf beetle, according to a BLM news release. The project will provide data that will be combined with other monitoring results to help the BLM determine the best methods for enhancing the defoliation effects of the tamarisk beetle, officials said.

“Because the hungry beetles are just now beginning to emerge, timing of the burn will depend on how quickly the trees are defoliated and turning brown at the Potash burn site,” the news release stated. “Once the beetles have done their job, plans include burning a total of about eight acres of tamarisk on a late afternoon and it is anticipated that the fire will burn out within a matter of hours.”

The Potash Road will be closed shortly before and during the prescribed fire activities and caution signs will be posted at the junction of U.S. 191 as well as along the Potash Road. BLM officials said smoke from this burn will likely be thick and black and may be visible from Moab Valley, from areas within Arches National Park and also from other viewpoints.

For more information about the prescribed burn, contact Brian Keating, Canyon Country Fire Zone Fuels program manager, at 435-259-2194.
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