Field-burning data will be broadcast

BOISE – Daily updates on field burning in North Idaho will be broadcast both on KXLY-TV and on the Internet, the Idaho State Department of Agriculture has announced.

The TV spots, to air during KXLY’s weather reports in its 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts and again the next morning during the “Good Morning Northwest” program, are a joint venture between the Idaho agency and the Washington Department of Ecology, which started televised burn forecasts last summer. They’ll cover field burning in both states.

The two state agencies will share the costs.

The Idaho information also is being posted on the Internet at www.idahosmokemanagement.org. There, a general burn forecast is being posted each day at 4 p.m. for the following day, with an update the next morning at 9 a.m. and additional updates as needed. Idahoans also can get information and file complaints through a toll-free telephone hotline, (800) 345-1007.

Though the state’s field burning season officially started on Monday, no burning was scheduled in North Idaho either Monday or Tuesday. Sherm Takatori, manager of the state smoke management program, said Rathdrum Prairie bluegrass field burning last year started on Aug. 1.

“It should be about the same (time), I would imagine,” he said.

In addition to the TV and Internet broadcasts, Takatori said field burning announcements are planned on some area radio stations. They’re scheduled to air each weekday between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. on three stations: Cat Country 94 FM, Oldies KEYF 101.1 FM and the Big Talker, 1510 AM.

For those who need more specific information, Takatori said people are welcome to call the department in Boise at (208) 332-8500 and ask for smoke management.

“We will give them as much information as we can legally give them, as far as where the burning is in their area and what times and things like that,” he said. “Generally speaking, from the Web site and listening to the burn forecast, that gives you a pretty good idea what’s going to happen as far as the burning is concerned.”

Field burning has become increasingly controversial in recent years due to health complaints related to the smoke, and has been the topic of several lawsuits. Idaho legislators passed a law designed to protect farmers from such lawsuits, but its constitutionality is being challenged in court. A decision on that is pending at the Idaho Supreme Court.