Campfires and chainsaw use prohibited

PENDLETON, Ore.–The Umatilla National Forest Service has moved to Phase C of public use restricts (PUR) as of Monday July 22, due to continued hot temperatures, lack of moisture and extreme fire danger.

The increased potential for human caused wildfires, officials remind forest visitors to use extreme caution; even a spark can rapidly become a large wildfire.

Phase C PURs is the third level of restrictions and includes:

• Campfires are prohibited on the Forest. Liquefied and bottle gas stoves and heaters are only allowed in designated recreation areas.

•No internal combustion engine operation (including chainsaws), except for motorized vehicles. Generators equipped with an approved spark arrestor and operated under the following conditions are allowed: when located in an area cleared 5 feet that is barren or cleared of all flammable material, or; when fully contained within a pickup truck bed that is empty of all flammable material, or; when factory installed in a recreational vehicle generator exhaust discharge must be in the center of an area at least five feet of clearance from all flammable materials.

• No off-road/off-trail vehicle travel or travel on roads not cleared of standing grass or other flammable material. Vehicle travel is never permitted on currently closed Forest Service roads where access has been impeded or blocked by earthen berms, logs, boulders, barriers, barricades, or gates, or as otherwise identified in a Closure Order.

• Smoking is allowed only in enclosed vehicles and buildings, developed recreation sites, or in cleared areas.

Please remember that it is your responsibility to know what restrictions are in place when visiting public lands.

Regulated closures may be in effect on State and private lands protected by Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) in northeast and central Oregon. Please check with your local Oregon Department of Forestry office for PURs on lands protected by ODF. For more complete information, contact a local Oregon Department of Forestry office or visit one of the interagency dispatch center’s webpages:

• Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch webpage: http://www.bmidc.org

• John Day Interagency Dispatch webpage: http://bicc-jdidc.org/index.shtml

Similar restrictions may also be in effect on State and private lands protected by the Washington Department of Natural Resources (WA-DNR). More information can be found on the WA-DNR website at: http://www.dnr.wa.gov/.

For more information about the Umatilla National Forest’s Public Use Restrictions, please contact the Umatilla National Forest Information Hotline at 1-877-958-9663, or visit our website at http://www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla.

Additional information about the Umatilla National Forest is available at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/umatilla.