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If conditions remain favorable, fire managers on the Sisters and Crescent Ranger District are planning to ignite prescribed burn on Tuesday, May 1 with ignitions beginning as early as 10:00 a.m. The burn on the Sisters District is scheduled for tomorrow, approximately 2 ½ miles west of Sisters, and ½ mile west of the Tollgate subdivision. The burn unit (SAFR NE 231) is 95 acres and should be completed in one day. Burning in this unit is designed to decrease hazardous fuels accumulations within the Wildland Urban Interface near to the city of Sisters and surrounding communities to reduce the risk of high intensity wildfire as well as improving wildlife habitat.

With the return of warmer weather and drying conditions in the Ochoco National Forest, fire managers hope to complete another fuels treatment in the McKay area just east of Prineville starting Thursday, if conditions allow. Working in partnership with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, objectives for the burn include improving habitat and forage for big game and livestock, while introducing fire back into a fire-adapted Ponderosa pine and fir ecosystem.