Cooler weather and lowered wildfire danger have prompted local land management agencies to lift the Stage 1 Fire Restrictions on all public lands in the Owyhee Mountain and Treasure Valley beginning Thursday, Sept. 14.
The lifting of restrictions pertains to private and public lands protected by the Boise National Forest, Boise District BLM and State and Endowment Lands.
They include:
-All of Owyhee County, west of the Bruneau Canyon.
-All of Ada, Canyon, Gem, Payette and Washington Counties.
-Portions of Boise County including the administrative boundary of Lucky Peak Lake to Arrowrock Dam, south shore of Arrowrock Reservoir and the portion of Elmore County that lies south of the South Fork Boise River to Anderson Ranch Dam, south along Anderson Dam Rd (FS134) to Hwy 20, east on Hwy 20 to the Elmore/Gooding County line south to I-84.
-All state, private, and BLM lands east of the Snake River, north and west of Highway 95 to the Little Weiser River, and north of the Little Weiser River to the Payettte NF boundary. The boundary then follows the Payette NF boundary back to the Snake River.
“Lifting restrictions in these zones means the public may build a campfire, use a charcoal barbecue, or smoke outside of designated campgrounds and recreation sites. We are reminding people to use water to put out all campfires and to soak all charcoal and hot ash from barbeques and stoves,” said BLM spokesman Jared Jablonski.
Burn bans may still be in place in some areas, officials say.
Burn bans pertain to controlled burning activities such as debris burning, slash burning, or agricultural burning, for which a fire safety burn permit from IDL is required. Visit http://burnpermits.idaho.gov/ for more information.
Stage 1 Fire Restrictions are still in effect for private and public lands protected by the Boise National Forest, Boise District BLM and State and Endowment Lands.
The area includes:
North of Idaho State Highway 20 and the intersection of Dam Road to Anderson Dam -- and everything north of the South Fork of the Boise River downstream to the Boise foothills and extending north encompassing the Idaho Department of Lands to its intersection back with the Boise National Forest boundary near Sagehen reservoir.
The far northern boundary includes all Boise National Forest lands excluding the Frank Church Wilderness. All lands north of Sagehen reservoir, including Tripod Mountain and West Mountain within the North Fork Payette river drainage north to near Tamarack Resort.
The BLM Fire Prevention Order remains in effect for all BLM-managed lands within the state of Idaho. This order prohibits discharging, using, possessing fireworks; discharging a firearm using incendiary, steel core or tracer ammunition; burning, igniting or causing to burn any tire, wire, magnesium, plastic or explosive material (including exploding targets) that may cause a fire. For more information on fire restrictions and maps of the Owyhee Mountain, Treasure Valley and West Central Mountain Zones visit: www.idahofireinfo.com
