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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Farmers Burn 2,100 Acres Of Grass-Seed Fields About 30,000 Acres Remain To Be Burned In Two States

Some 2,100 acres of the Rathdrum Prairie’s grass-seed fields went up in smoke Monday, the first major day of field burning in North Idaho.

The surge in burning sparked telephone calls to the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality.

A tally of telephone calls to the special comment hotline was not available late Monday.

Spokane County growers, meanwhile, torched about 100 acres Monday. And farmers on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation burned some acreage on the southern end of the reservation, although specific figures were not available.

Burning eliminates weeds and pests and boosts production a considerable amount. But the resulting smoke sends billows of particulate matter into the air, irritating the lungs and eyes of many people.

Outside of Monday’s big singe on the prairie, growers have made little progress this season. Spokane County barely eked out 100 acres of burning last week and Rathdrum Prairie growers hit about 400 acres total.

Growers on the reservation did much better last week, torching about 1,400 acres.

This leaves reservation growers with about 18,000 acres to burn. Spokane County has nearly 6,600 acres registered for this year’s effort, although only half of the farmers have purchased their burning permits to date.

The Rathdrum Prairie has 8,200 acres registered to burn, so more than 5,000 acres remain.

Rathdrum Prairie and Spokane County growers have 12 burning days left between now and late September under a voluntary smoke management agreement. Burning will continue Monday through Thursday, except on Labor Day.

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe follows similar guidelines. This year the tribe also is using a plane to track smoke columns and is considering a 10-year burning phase-out.

The controversy over field burning prompted the Washington Department of Ecology last year to order a reduction over three years. Some Rathdrum Prairie growers announced their own long-term burning phase-out earlier this month.

The Intermountain Grass Growers Association, meanwhile, is employing cyber tools in its efforts to spread the word about reasons to burn the fields. The association set up a web site at http://www.nicon.org/igga.

, DataTimes