The Sterling Highway cuts through areas of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge where burns from the Swan Lake can be seen, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

The Sterling Highway cuts through areas of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge where burns from the Swan Lake can be seen, Sunday, May 22, 2022. (Photo by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)

Prescribed burns will produce visible smoke near highways

The burns are part of ongoing spruce beetle mitigation efforts

Prescribed burns around the Chugach National Forest will produce smoke visible at several points along the Sterling and Seward Highways over the next couple of months, a Thursday media advisory from the Chugach National Forest says.

The burns are part of ongoing spruce beetle mitigation efforts, the forest says, and will reduce hazardous fuel — decreasing the potential for wildfire and lessening severity “should it occur.” The burns are scheduled throughout the fall and into the “early winter.”

According to the advisory, the forest service will collaborate with the National Weather Service and the State Department of Environmental Conservation to schedule burns under conditions favorable to smoke dispersion.

Despite that, the forest says smoke will be visible at six points along the highways on the Kenai Peninsula. On the Sterling Highway, smoke will be visible near Russian River Campground, Cooper Creek Campground and Crescent Creek Campground. On the Seward Highway, smoke will be visible near Milepost 35, close to the Sterling and Seward Highway Junction in the direction of Moose Pass. Finally, smoke will be visible in Hope, near the Hope Point Trailhead.

Fore more information about the Chugach National Forest, visit fs.usda.gov/chugach.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Brad Snowden and Julie Crites participate in a Seward City Council candidate forum at the Seward Community Library in Seward on Thursday.
Seward council candidates discuss issues at election forum

Participating in Thursday’s forum were Julie Crites and Brad Snowden

Cam Choy, associate professor of art at Kenai Peninsula College, works on a salmon sculpture in collaboration with the Kenai Watershed Forum during the Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 8, 2019. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Soldotna adopts arts and culture master plan

The plan outlines how the city plans to support arts and culture over the next 10 years

Architect Nancy Casey speaks in front of a small gathering at the Fireside Chat presented by the Kenai Watershed Forum on Nov. 30, 2022, at Kenai River Brewing in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Watershed Forum’s Fireside Chats return Wednesday

The chats will cover a range of interesting topics, centered on knowledge, research and projects

Erosion of the Kenai bluff near the Kenai Senior Center. (Photo by Aidan Curtin courtesy Scott Curtin)
Kenai to sign bluff stabilization agreement Monday

A signing event will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Kenai Senior Center

Engineer Lake Cabin can be seen in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Nov. 21, 2021. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Public comment accepted for proposed rate increases for overnight fees at refuge

Campsites would increase $5 per night and cabins would increase $10 per night

Abigal Craig, youth winner of the Seventh Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby, is presented a novelty check by Kenai River Sportfishing Association Executive Director Shannon Martin, City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Silver Salmon Derby nets fish, funds for river protection

116 fish were weighed by 79 anglers across the six days of competition

Soldotna Public Works Director Kyle Kornelis talks about the Soldotna field house project during a Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna awards field house contract

Anchorage-based Criterion General, Inc. will construct the facility

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly to let borough mayors speak sooner during meetings

The mayor’s report will now be given after the first round of public comments and before public hearings and new assembly business

Assembly members Lane Chesley, left, and Richard Derkevorkian participate in a borough assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Haara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly asks state to allow term limits for school board members

Alaska Statute does not allow term limits to be imposed on school board members

Most Read