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Updates | 2023 CNF Projects | Photos

On January 2022, the Forest Service launched a robust, 10-year strategy to address the wildfire crisis in the places where it poses the most immediate threats to communities. The strategy, called “Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: A Strategy for Protecting Communities and Improving Resilience in America’s Forests,” (leer en español) combines a historic investment of congressional funding with years of scientific research and planning into a national effort that will dramatically increase the scale and pace of forest health treatments over the next decade. Through the strategy, the agency will work with states, Tribes and other partners to addresses wildfire risks to critical infrastructure, protect communities, and make forests more resilient.

In early 2023, the USDA Forest Service added 11 additional landscapes. This announcement followed a year of progress in collaborating with partners across 10 initial landscapes to address wildfire risk to infrastructure and communities. One of these 11 additional landscapes is the Cleveland National Forest. 

Cleveland National Forest fire crews are starting to conduct fuel treatment operations. These projects will continue through 2023 and into spring 2024. These fuel treatment operations will include vegetation thinning, cutting and piling, mastication, prescribed fire by burning of piles, and low-intensity understory burning.  Fire and mechanical treatments are important tools for the Forest Service’s mission to reduce vegetation loading, and restore natural fire regimes, which in the long-term help communities live more safely in fire prone areas and improve forest health.

Fire managers follow a risk-management approach when conducting these projects and mitigate impacts to local communities, residences and infrastructure. Fire managers will conduct prescribed fire activities during the safest possible “burn windows” in the coming months. Numerous factors including wind, humidity, air quality, fuel moisture and availability of fire crew personnel must be met before crews are authorized to move forward with burning.

The objective of the projects are to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire to people and communities, create conditions which offer a safer and more effective wildfire response, foster more resilient ecosystems, and minimize the effects of large wildfires on the landscape. In fiscal year 2023, the Forest’s target for fuels reduction is 6,900 acres. 2,400 acres of planned prescribed fire, and 3,500 acres of mechanical treatments which is a combination of mastication, cut and pile with chainsaws.

Residents and visitors are asked to avoid areas where prescribed fires are being conducted. Some smoke may be visible. People should not be alarmed as the fires are carefully managed and monitored. Local fire and government authorities are notified prior to burn days and kept informed throughout prescribed fire operations.

Additional updates on prescribed burning will be shared on this page and the forest’s social media on Twitter at https://twitter.com/clevelandnf and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/clevelandnf