R
esidents are encouraged to help protect their neighborhoods against wildfires and participate in the “Junk the Junipers” event from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., May 21.
The University of Nevada Cooperative Extension, in partnership with the Nevada Division of Forestry, Bureau of Land Management and Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District, encourage locals to bring their junipers, pines, rabbitbrush, sagebrush, and other woody vegetation to one of two locations to be chipped for free. Participants will not only be reducing their risk for wildfires but will also receive a 20 percent off coupon for a replacement shrub at Moana Nursery.
The two participating locations are the Nevada Division of Forestry office at 885 Eastlake Blvd. in Washoe Valley or the lot adjacent to the Truckee Meadows Fire Protection District’s Silver Lake Volunteer Fire Station at 11525 Red Rock Road in Silver Lake.
Junk the Junipers is on of several Nevada Wildfire Awareness Month events and promotes the month’s message, “Create Unity, Fire-Adapt Your Community!”.
“Though ornamental junipers can often be a good plant choice for Nevada’s climate and soils, they are highly flammable, and their presence in a landscape is a major factor in whether or not a home will survive a wildfire,” said Ed Smith, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension natural resources specialist and Living With Fire program director. “A good way to prepare your home for wildfire is to get rid of junipers that are within 30 feet of your home and bring them to be chipped.”
Vegetation chipped at the event will be used as mulch in various locations. Do not bring construction lumber, hazardous materials, lawn clippings, sod, dirt-infested vegetation and tree stumps or limbs greater than 8 inches in diameter, as these materials will not be chipped.
For details on Junk the Junipers, contact Sonya Sistare at [email protected] or 775-336-0271. For details on Nevada Wildfire Awareness Month activities, visit http://www.LivingWithFire.info.
