COEUR d'ALENE - Rain and cooler weather is providing optimal conditions for the Bureau of Land Management's Coeur d'Alene Field Office to begin fall pile burning activities.

Through an Interagency "Service First" agreement, firefighters from both the BLM and Forest Service are working together to clean up slash piles left over from hazardous fuels treatments across BLM lands.

If left unburned, the piles are counterproductive to the fuels reduction effort as they could provide wildfires with a concentrated fuel source, thus increasing material for potential fires.

Crews are focused on higher elevation projects first, such as the BLM's Wallace South Hill fuels reduction project. Additional burning will also include areas near Killarney Lake, Murray and Westmond.

Smoke from pile burning activities may be visible to communities in the Silver Valley area as well as locations south of Sandpoint.

Info: Lonnie Newton, 769-5017