SUNDAY UPDATE: Conditions were ideal on Saturday and today is another burn day for Jackson County (with more rain!). Ashland Parks will continue controlled pile burns on the Lithia Park hillside today. Please avoid the area if you're sensitive to smoke. 

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Taking advantage of the much needed rain, Ashland Parks Commission workers will be burning piles on the upper hillside of Lithia Park today, March 7th. If you are concerned about smoke, please avoid Lithia Park area today, including: South Pioneer, Fork St, Glenview Dr, and upper Granite St. Adjacent neighborhoods will also see and smell smoke. Please keep windows closed for today.

Funding for this project was provided through a donation from Avista and conducted with a permit from Ashland Fire & Rescue. 

Surrounded by homes, there are over 50 undeveloped acres of Lithia Park that provide recreation and wildlife habitat in the middle of Ashland. Ashland Parks has been actively reducing wildfire danger on the Lithia Hillside since the 1980's. Recent drought has lead to the loss of many large pine trees, which have been cut for public safety. Workers have thinned competing vegetation to create more space for oak and pine trees to thrive, along with reducing wildfire fuels by burning the debris piles during the wet season. This project will continue on approved burn days until completed.