May, as Wildlife Awareness Month, is approaching its halfway point but Idaho's Bureau of Land Management's current fire prevention order is set to last into October.
The BLM is urging Idaho residents to take advance measures to protect their homes and property, and to avoid starting a wildfire on public lands, according to a news release issued May 6.
"We are asking the public to be extra diligent this year as the wildland fire potential outlook indicates that we could be in for a real challenge this summer." BLM Idaho State Director Karen Kelleher said in the release. "These restrictions are about keeping public lands open and minimizing the potential loss of wildlife habitat and forage in a year where drought has already caused significant strain to the landscape."
BLM Idaho State Director Karen Kelleher issued a fire protection order through October.
| BLM.gov/
In late April, Kelleher signed a fire prevention order scheduled to last until Oct. 22, essentially this year's entire fire season. Among other things, burning explosive materials, using exploding targets or steel component ammunition and possessing, using and discharging on public land is illegal under the order. Shooting at steel or ferrous materials amid dry vegetation also is prohibited.
Wildfire potential was low or near normal through April but fire potential conditions are expected to increase later this spring from northern Idaho into the state's southern regions, according to the news release.
Monitored wildfire information is compiled and posted to the Idaho Fire Information website that tracks fires over a 24-hour period, as well as active incidents, current fire restrictions and a fire's history.
Idaho BLM firefighters are active in "one of the largest and most complex fire programs in the BLM, protecting approximately 11 million acres of range and forest land in central and southern Idaho," according to the BLM website.
Almost 500 people in Idaho BLM's program make up teams that respond to an average of 330 fires that burn about 270,000 acres of public and private lands each year, the BLM reported.
