Land management agencies in north central Idaho have banned campfires and adopted other measures designed to prevent human-caused wildfires.
Restrictions cover public land managed by the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Idaho Department of Lands, Idaho Fish and Game, and the Nez Perce Tribe, as well as private land for which those agencies provide fire protection.
The move was prompted by extreme fire danger driven by weeks of hot weather and low precipitation.
Campfires and stove fires will be allowed only in designated recreation sites with permanent metal or concrete fire rings. Private landowners in the areas may have camp and stove fires on their property, provided it is within fire rings. Smoking is allowed only within enclosed vehicles, buildings and recreation sites, or while stopped in an area cleared of all flammable material for a diameter of 3 feet.
The rules do not apply in the Selway-Bitterroot, Gospel Hump, Hells Canyon, and Frank Church-River of No Return wilderness areas. (KOZE News)
