Forest Service plans to set fire by Summerhaven

Comments are sought on proposal

The U.S. Forest Service plans to burn 291 acres of forest this fall east of Summerhaven on Mount Lemmon, and seeks public comment.

The goal is to create a buffer that protects the mountaintop community from a wildfire moving uphill from the dirt Control Road that winds down the back side of the Santa Catalinas to Oracle.

``Almost every year, we have a fire off that back side from people camping off the Control Road. We want to reduce that risk,'' said Ted Moore, fire management officer at the Santa Catalina ranger district.

Big wildfire season

He said the upcoming wildfire season could be ``high to very high'' at low elevations because El Niņo-fueled winter rains caused grasses, weeds and brush to flourish.

In the timber at higher elevations, the wildfire season should be slow to develop because the ample snowpack will keep the ground wet.

Near Summerhaven, the Loma Linda Fuel Treatment Project would deliberately burn a region that begins along the Catalina Highway about half a mile east of the community. The burn zone stretches to the northeast, with the Control Road running through its center and forming its east boundary.

The elevation in that area ranges from 7,900 feet to 6,500 feet. Ponderosa pines dominate at higher elevations, with oak woodland farther down.

The Loma Linda project is part of a larger effort to reduce the amount of dead wood and brush, and to thin the forest, around Summerhaven and Oracle.

Several ``prescribed burns'' have been conducted around Oracle in recent years. Next month, a 200-acre fire is planned there, Moore said.

Over the past two years, 210 acres have been burned south of Summerhaven. And the 1995 Shovel wildfire burned 1,200 acres, creating a buffer to the west of the community.

Small trees to be cut

In the Loma Linda project, some live and standing dead trees less than 9 inches in diameter would be cut, piled and burned within the 291-acre zone, Moore said. Thinning the smaller trees will reduce the likelihood that a ground fire could climb into the forest canopy and burn across the tops of mature trees, he said.

The Forest Service will prepare an environmental assessment that analyzes impacts of the Loma Linda Fuel Treatment Project.

COMMENTS

Written comments about the proposal should be sent to Ted Moore or Rocky M. Tow at the Santa Catalina Ranger District, 5700 N. Sabino Canyon Road, Tucson, AZ 85750. Comments should be submitted by April 27.