Prescribed burn to occur north of Ruedi Reservoir

Fire managers with the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit plan to ignite a 120-acre prescribed burn at Coyote Park on Oct. 3, weather conditions permitting. 

Located four miles north of Ruedi Reservoir in Eagle County on White River National Forest land, this controlled burn is designed to enhance wildlife habitat by targeting meadow and shrub vegetation, according to a news release.

This burn continues the project begun last year at Lime Park, where crews successfully treated 700 acres. The low-intensity fire is expected to clear dead grasses and leaf litter, which will return nutrients to the soil and stimulate new growth. 

“We anticipate denser and more nutritious vegetation as a result,” Phil Nyland, a wildlife biologist with the Aspen-Sopris Ranger District, said in the release.

The Coyote Park burn is part of a broader habitat improvement initiative that combines prescribed fire and mechanical treatments across forest, shrubland, and grassland areas within the Aspen-Sopris Ranger District. 

Besides improving habitat, prescribed burns can also help reduce the intensity of future wildfires. 

“These treatments give firefighters safer and more effective areas to engage wildfires,” Dan Nielsen, fuels program manager for the White River National Forest, explained in the release.

Firefighters will monitor conditions closely before proceeding with the burn, and residents are advised that smoke may impact air quality. More information about the health effects of smoke can be found on the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s website.