Umatilla National Forest goes to Phase B restrictions

PENDLETON – Officials for the Umatilla National Forest implemented Phase B Public Use Restrictions on the forest due to increasingly high fire danger, the potential for human-caused fires, and concern for public safety.

That means campfires are only allowed in designated campgrounds and recreation sites. A list of the designated sites is on the forest website. Also, operating internal combustion engines like those found in chainsaws is only permitted with a valid permit.

Generators are only allowed in the center of an area that has been cleared of all flammable material within a diameter of five feet. They are also permitted if they are fully contained in a pickup truck bed that is devoid of all flammable material or when they are factory installed in a recreational vehicle. For the latter, the generator exhaust discharge must be in the center of an area cleared of flammable material within five feet.

Smoking is only allowed within enclosed vehicles, buildings, and developed recreational sites. It is also allowed when stopped in an area cleared of all flammable material within three feet. No off-road vehicle travel is allowed. Such travel is only allowed if a person is going to or from a campsite within 300 feet of an open, developed road. Motorized travel on roads that are not cleared of standing grass or other flammable material is banned, as are roads closed by gates, barricades, berms, rocks, or logs.

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Elkhorn Media Group

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