COEUR D'ALENE —  As the Kootenai Fuels Reduction Project resumes today east of Hayden Lake and south of Hayden Creek, the Idaho Panhandle National Forests announced a temporary order prohibiting recreational shooting in the immediate area through June 7.

The closure area includes the Hayden Creek shooting pit on Forest Service Road 437, about 4 miles southeast of U.S. 95. 

The U.S. Forest Service cites the “serious and imminent threat" to personnel conducting fuel reduction operations "because the treatment area is downrange of multiple popular recreational shooting areas.”

The Kootenai Fuel Reduction Project’s goals are to reduce wildfire danger in the wildland-urban interface by thinning excess woody materials on the ground or in the forest understory or canopy that can increase the severity of fire.

To help limit the impact of the closure on recreational shooting opportunities in the area, the Fernan Rod and Gun Club is expanding the number and capacity of open public days during the closure.