Beginning Aug. 1, the next phase of fuel reduction efforts will take place on public lands north/northwest of the communities East Carbon and Sunnyside.
Previously, the United States Bureau of Land Management crews built a fuel break on the public lands adjacent to the community.
Additionally, a contractor and BLM crews thinned the excess pinon and juniper trees, piled slash and burned piles on a northeastern portion of the project area.
The federal agency has hired a contractor to reduce hazardous fuels on the remaining 1,935 acres in the northern portion of the project area with a bull hog, according to federal officials.
The bull hog is a self propelled rubber tire machine which grinds up the trees and excessive fuels into coarse chips.
Prior to the bull hog work, re-seeding will take place on portions of the project area to improve wildlife habitat and to combat invasive plant species, explained the federal management agency.
Seeding efforts are possible due to a partnership the BLM has fostered with the Utah Partnership for Conservation Development.
The fuel reduction efforts are elements of the wildland urban interface initiative, the national fire plan, the healthy forest initiative and the Healthy Forest Restoration Act.
After multiple years of catastrophic fires dating back to 1985, the U.S. Congress allocated monies to be used specifically to minimize the impact of wildfire on communities at risk in the wildland interface, pointed out the federal agency.
While the bull hog is working, BLM fuel managers ask Carbon County residents to limit travel on roads in and around the project area and to not approach the machinery at any time for safety reasons.
For additional information, Carbon County residents may call Heather O’Hanlon at 435-259-2184.
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