{"id":130196,"date":"2026-05-20T22:15:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/san-juan-national-forest-implements-fire-restrictions\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T22:15:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T04:15:10","slug":"san-juan-national-forest-implements-fire-restrictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/san-juan-national-forest-implements-fire-restrictions\/","title":{"rendered":"San Juan National Forest implements fire restrictions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The San Juan National Forest is implementing Stage 1 fire restrictions at lower elevations, according to a news release from the Forest Service. (Courtesy of San Juan National Forest)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The San Juan National Forest will implement Stage 1 fire restrictions for lower elevations of forest land beginning Friday as a result of increased wildfire danger caused by hot, dry weather.<\/p>\n

Vegetation in lower-elevation areas is rapidly drying out, creating elevated fire risk across much of the lower country, according to a Wednesday news release from the San Juan National Forest Service.<\/p>\n

The restrictions apply only to Zone 1 areas \u2013 land within Forest Service boundaries below 8,000 feet \u2013 because conditions vary significantly by elevation. Lower elevations are drying out more quickly, while higher-elevation vegetation is retaining moisture and poses less wildfire risk.<\/p>\n

Congressionally designated wilderness areas like Lizard Head, Hermosa and Weminuche Wilderness are exempt from the order.<\/p>\n

Stage 1 restrictions prohibit fires, campfires, stove fires, explosives and outdoor smoking. Petroleum-fueled stoves, lanterns and heating devices will still be allowed, along with fires contained within Forest Service-established campfire rings.<\/p>\n

The minimum fine for violating Stage 1 campfire restrictions in Colorado is $530.<\/p>\n

According to a Forest Service news release, the restrictions are indefinite and could be lifted or expanded based on evolving conditions in the coming weeks and months.<\/p>\n

jbowman@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Map
Map of Stage 1 fire restriction areas in the San Juan National Forest that will begin May 22. (Image courtesy of the San Juan National Forest Service)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

<\/element><\/element><\/element><\/element><\/element><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 rules apply to elevations below 8,000; minimum fine for violating guidelines is $530<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24544,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[1820,350,28,199,6419,84],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-130196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-dh-trueanthem","tag-fire","tag-headlines","tag-san-juan-national-forest","tag-tj-trueanthem","tag-wildfire"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130196"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=130196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}