REDDING, Calif. — The Shasta-Trinity National Forest will continue fuels reduction activities on the Bear Mountain hazardous fuels reduction project near Shasta Lake north of Jones Valley starting January 22, 2021. Fire crews will hand ignite these burn piles when conditions are favorable, completing up to 86 acres over the next several days.

These projects are conducted in accordance with an approved burn plan to ensure the safety of people and property in the area. Burn plans describe the specific conditions under which burns will be conducted including the weather, number of personnel and opportunities to minimize smoke impacts. Actual project initiation dates will depend upon local weather and fuel conditions.

Smoke will be visible from areas near Jones Valley and Silverthorne on the east side Shasta Lake. Residual smoke may be visible for several days and project managers will be working with the Air Quality Management Board to ensure compliance with air quality regulations and health and safety conditions.

The main goals of these prescribed fire projects are to reduce the severity of future wildfires and to provide added protection for communities in the wildland urban interface. In addition, prescribed burns promote a diverse and more resilient forest and improve habitat for wildlife.

Pre-ignition public notifications will be provided to local media outlets and will also be posted on https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7268/, the Forest’s Facebook www.facebook.com/ShastaTrinityNF and Twitter www.twitter.com/ShastaTrinityNF pages. For more information, please call the Shasta Lake District Office at (530) 440-4554 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (closed on federal holidays.)