CULVER, OR -- Fire managers plan to burn slash piles of juniper on a little more than 200 acres of the Crooked River National Grassland, Thursday. If weather and conditions allow, they’ll start in late morning igniting piles scattered across several units near Grandview, Three Rivers Subdivision and Lake Billy Chinook. Work will continue throughout the day and piles could smolder for several days.

Smoke will be visible from Highway 97 but isn’t expected to impact traffic.

Officials say burning the units will improve "critical winter range for big game, while reducing hazardous fuel loading to lower the risk of large-scale wildfire across the landscape."