Hayden Creek shooting areas close for burning
The next stage of the Kootenai Fuels Reduction Project will begin Monday and require closing the Hayden Creek shooting pit closure.
Idaho Panhandle National Forests
COEUR d’ALENE — The Idaho Panhandle National Forests on Friday said the next stage of the Kootenai Fuels Reduction Project will begin Monday and require closing of the Hayden Creek shooting pit on Forest Service Road 437 and adjacent areas until Oct. 27.
Crews will conduct pile burning in the vicinity, including downrange of the shooting area.
The current shooting closure follows a longer closure in the same area that began in April facilitating non-commercial thinning, pruning and piling, a press release said.
The closure area extends along Hayden Creek and Stump Creek toward the summit of Hudlow Mountain.
“We recognize that all closures cause inconvenience, which is why we limit them to the minimum needed to carry out our mission safely and effectively,” said Holly Hampton, district ranger for the Coeur d’Alene River Ranger District, in a press release. “In this case, a closure to shooting is critical to protecting the safety of crews working immediately downrange of the shooting area who would be in imminent danger if shooting remained open.”
The Kootenai Fuel Reduction Project is a multi-year project that treats 3,000 acres in the wildland-urban Interface of Kootenai County. The project’s goals are to reduce wildfire danger by thinning excess woody materials.