October usually signals a change to cooler and often wetter weather. And it’s normally the beginning of what the U-S Forest Service calls the prescribed burning season. Michael Woodbridge, with the Tahoe National Forest, says they usually wait until the wildfire season is winding down. The idea is to reduce the threat of wildfires for next summer. A number of vegetation burns are conducted, depending on weather conditions…

click to listen to Michael Woodbridge

Woodbridge says it’s not uncommon to call off a burn the morning it’s planned, that weather conditions can change unexpectedly this time of year. The Yuba River Ranger District is one of four districts targeted each season, which usually runs through the spring. Underbrush burns in that district are planned near Camptonville and along Highway 20 near White Cloud Campground. Also…pile burning along Madrone Springs Road east of Nevada City. Woodbridge says forests near urban areas always get priority…

click to listen to Michael Woodbridge

Woodbridge says it’s been difficult to do as many prescribed burns as the Forest Service would like in recent years, partly due to it being too dry from a lack of winter rains. Notifications will be issued not long before one is planned.