California State Parks to Conduct Prescribed Burn at Mount San Jacinto State Park as Soon as Nov. 9
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IDYLLWILD/ PINE COVE – California State Parks and CAL FIRE is scheduled to perform a prescribed burn at Mount San Jacinto State Park (SP) starting on Monday, Nov. 9, or Tuesday, Nov. 10, pending weather conditions. The public is advised to use extreme caution while driving near prescribed fire operations due to fire personnel and equipment in the area.
The burn is part of a forest health and wildfire resilience program aimed at reintroducing healthy fire into this fire-adapted ecosystem and making the forest more resilient to catastrophic wildfire, drought and pest invasion. In addition to ecological benefits this project will provide valuable training opportunities for CAL FIRE and State Parks staff prescribed burn personnel. During the prescribed burn, visitors should expect localized park closures, including trails and roads near the burn area. For a current list of all park closures, the public can visit parks.ca.gov/Incidents.
Below is more information on the planned prescribed burns:
- During the operation, most areas of the park, including office buildings, trails and campgrounds, will remain open and not be impacted.
- Sections of Sawmill Flats Road and the southeast terminus of the road where it meets the Thousand Trails Private Campground will be temporarily closed.
- On the day of the burn, smoke may be visible near the burn area. Smoke may be seen in the area for several days following the initial ignitions operation but will decrease over time and should not be a cause for alarm. Do not call 9-1-1 to report fire activity or smoke in the area.
- Prescribed burns produce significantly less smoke than a wildfire. In the event the public smells smoke, they are urged to take precautions and use common sense to reduce any harmful health effects by limiting outdoor activities in the area. These precautions are especially important for children, older adults and people with respiratory and heart conditions.
State Parks plans and coordinates the prescribed burns with the South Coast Air Quality Management District to minimize the smoke impacts on surrounding communities.
Prescribed Fire and California State Parks
This burn is part of State Parks’ Wildfire and Forest Resilience program to transition from catastrophic to beneficial fire on state-owned lands. Prescribed burns are an important tool in the department’s ongoing efforts to reduce wildfire risk, improve the health of the local ecosystems by supporting native plants and wildlife, protect nearby communities and promote the long-term resilience of California's public lands. Read more about how State Parks uses beneficial fire on our FAQs page and learn four surprising facts about prescribed burns on the California State Parks blog.
Photo from a pile burn operation in the area in 2023. While pile burning targets individual piles of vegetation, next week’s prescribed burn will treat vegetation across approximately 20 acres of the park in the same area of the park.
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California State Parks provides for the health, inspiration and education of the people of California by helping to preserve the state’s extraordinary biological diversity, protecting its most valued natural and cultural resources, and creating opportunities for high quality outdoor recreation.