Rocky Mountain National Park has announced a plan for a fuels burn on Monday, Dec. 9. The project will either be a pile burning or a prescribed burn, depending on weather and fuels conditions, according to a press release from the park.

Fire managers at Rocky Mountain National Park are planning to burn either a 60-acre section of the prescribed fire unit or carry out a pile burning operation near Wild Basin, which would be visible from Colorado Highway 7.

Fire managers will be monitoring weather and fuels conditions between now and Monday morning to determine which fire operation will take place. Firefighters will be on the scene for the duration of either operation and will patrol throughout the day and overnight.

Last month, National Park Service fire staff worked with partner agencies to burn 100 acres of the 334-acre prescribed fire unit. If conditions remain favorable, the 60 acres the park plans to burn will make up the second section of this unit.

Because of the fuel type that will be burned, heavy and prolonged smoke is not expected from this operation.

If fire managers decide that conditions are more conducive for a pile burning operation, the park plans to burn up to 500 slash piles located inside Rocky Mountain National Park near the Wild Basin area in the southern part of the park. Slash from several fuels reduction and hazard tree removal projects have been cut and piled by fire crews over the last two years, and these piles are now dry enough to burn.

The primary goal of these burn operations is to reduce the threat of fire to adjacent communities and to the National Park Service infrastructure by reducing the amount of fuels available on the landscape.

When fighting the East Troublesome Fire in 2020, firefighters were able to take advantage of previous and existing prescribed fire and hazardous fuels treatment areas that provided buffers.

Fire operations near the Beavers Meadows entrance to the park may cause brief delays or road closures. Park visitors will not be allowed to stop along U.S. Highway 36 or walk within the burn area.