August 19, 2010 in City, Idaho

Field burning is back, greatly reduced

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A dramatically reduced level of field burning got started on the Rathdrum Prairie in North Idaho on Wednesday but was shut down when the smoke failed to rise above ground level, Idaho officials said today.

At least 50 acres of bluegrass were burned before officials ordered the fires extinguished, said Ralph Paul, air shed coordinator for the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality in Coeur d’Alene.

“It didn’t get the lift,” he said. “You want to get the smoke above the ground.”

As a result, an air quality monitor on West Lancaster Road near the Coeur d’Alene Airport showed smoke pollution changing from a good reading to a high-moderate reading for about an hour on Wednesday before returning to the good range, Paul said.

Meyer Farms is the last on the Rathdrum Prairie burning its fields since a lawsuit stopped burning several years ago and led to the creation of more stringent regulations on agricultural burning on lands overseen by the state.

The company has three fields – two in bluegrass and one in wheat – that it has sought approval to burn over the next few weeks. They total about 500 acres.

Burning is believed to shock the grass plants to increase production the following year.

The field the company sought to burn Wednesday was not mature enough for efficient burning, Paul said. As a result, the next burn will be delayed until traces of green growth disappear from the field, he said.

The acreage in this year’s planned burns is down from about 6,000 acres annually burned in the past, Paul said.

Burning also is underway on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation south of Coeur d’Alene, he said, and that burning is regulated by tribal government.

A light haze of smoke was visible in the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane regions today and is likely the residue of smoke from British Columbia fires that moved southward into western Washington earlier this week. The well-mixed smoke apparently was carried northeastward on a low-pressure system out of Oregon on Wednesday, he said.

Smoke from the same fires covered the Northwest in early August as well.

Air quality in Spokane this morning had slipped into the moderate range as of 9 a.m. with fine particulates in the air, including smoke. Coeur d’Alene reported good air quality.

Two comments on this story so far. Add yours!

• 

  deltaelk on August 19 at 12:11 p.m.

  Smart move to stop the burn, its better to wait for a wind that will take it north so Bayview, Idaho can reap the full force of the smoke like they do every year. Protect the people of Coeur d’ Alene and God-forbid any of the smoke crosses I-90, which would have a negative effect on the gorgeous city of CDA. Screw the people up north, they dont matter much, lousy lake up there, just make sure beautiful downtown CDA is protected. When the smoke does get to Bayview I hope the 3-stooges (county commissioners) get a chance to come up here and enjoy the smoke along with everyone else. Maybe Meyer can come up here too, bring his family for a nice picnic, have a nice enjoyable day up in the smoke-zone. I wish I smoked so I could blow a bunch of smoke into their faces.

• 

  dneisess on August 19 at 1:23 p.m.

  I’m in favor of controlled field burning in country(county) areas. SInce field burning was banned in Spokane, there has been a decrease in the amount of rainfall (actual rain, not snow) in southern Spokane county. Whitman County has received more rainfall because it still allowed field burning and so has Idaho. Fire is mother nature’s way of controlling overgrowth, smoke seeds the atmosphere which creates changes in weather patterns. I understand the health issues that it causes, in fact, my mother-in-law passed away from smoke related (Glacier Park fires in 2003) problems so to control air quality, permits should be issued that allows only so many acres to be burned at a time that would allow the smoke to dissipate better. The CDA tribe follows the practice of burning limited amounts of acreage before further burning more acreage. Just a smart move.