KELSEYVILLE, Calif. — A prescribed burn is set to take place beginning next week in Lake County’s Black Forest.

The Bureau of Land Management Ukiah Field Office, in cooperation with Cal Fire’s Lake Napa Unit, the Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance, Mendocino National Forest and Lake County District 5, plans to conduct prescribed fire operations in the Black Forest, which is located along Soda Bay Road, on the northeast side of Mount Konocti in Kelseyville.

Pile burn operations are scheduled to start April 14 and may continue periodically through May 30.

Burning will take place only when weather and fuel moisture allow for safe and successful burning.

The prescribed fire is part of a shaded fuel break initiated in 2008 to protect communities.

The project will remove hazardous fuels that could feed fires within this wildland-urban interface, where public lands meet urban development.

Approximately 36 acres of undergrowth and small trees have been hand-thinned by firefighters and piled over the last three years.

The operation aims to burn approximately 500 piles covering the entire shaded fuel break.

The Black Forest, a pristine Douglas fir forest, encompasses approximately 242 acres of BLM-managed public lands and supports many plants and species as well as valuable cultural resources and an important watershed

The BLM is committed to keeping public landscapes healthy and productive. More information is available from the BLM Ukiah Field Office at 707-468-4000.