Bureau of Land Management to oversee prescribed fire in Lake County’s Black Forest

The Bureau of Land Management Ukiah Field Office, in cooperation with CAL FIRE Sonoma Lake Napa Unit, plans to conduct prescribed fire operations in the Black Forest along Soda Bay Road, on the northeast side of Mount Konocti in Kelseyville, Lake County. Pile burn operations are scheduled to start the week of Jan. 24 and may continue periodically through the winter and spring. Burning will take place only when weather and fuel moisture allow for safe and successful burning.

The prescribed fire is part of a shaded fuel break initiated in 2008 and is designed to improve landscape health and to remove hazardous fuels that could feed wildland fires within this wildland-urban interface, where public lands meet urban development. Approximately 18 acres of undergrowth and small trees were hand-thinned by firefighters and piled last summer.

The Black Forest encompasses approximately 200 acres of BLM-managed public lands and supports many sensitive plants and animals as well as important watershed ecosystems, including a pristine Douglas fir forest.

The BLM is committed to keeping public landscapes healthy and productive. More information is available from the BLM Ukiah Field Office at 707468-4000. Updates will be provided by BLM through its social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter.