TITLE 38

FORESTRY, FOREST PRODUCTS AND STUMPAGE DISTRICTS

CHAPTER 1

IDAHO FORESTRY ACT

38-115.  Closed season for fires — Permits — Regulations — Extension of closed season — Suspension of permits — Penalty. The period from May 10 to October 20, inclusive, of each year shall be known as the closed season. During the closed season it shall be unlawful for any person to set or cause to be set a fire in any slashing area, or a fire to any stump or stumps, log or logs, down or standing timber or to set or cause to be set, a fire on any forest or range lands or dangerously near thereto, or in any field in any forest protective district, without having first procured a permit from the fire warden of the district, provided, that unless campfires have been prohibited during critical hazard periods, campfires may be set without permit provided there is compliance with the provisions of section 38-116, Idaho Code. Every permit shall prescribe the conditions upon which the permit is given, and contain rules and regulations governing the setting of fires and the prevention of the spread thereof to the property of another. At no time shall any fire be set when the wind is blowing to such an extent as to cause danger of the fire getting beyond the control of the person responsible for setting it, or without sufficient men, tools, supplies and firefighting equipment to control it, and the fire shall be kept under the control of the person responsible for setting it until it is out. The state board of land commissioners shall from time to time make all necessary rules and regulations governing the setting of fires on forest lands for both the closed and open season, and for their proper control and extinguishment. It shall be the duty of the director of the department of lands to prepare the proper form of permit to be used in carrying out the provisions of this section. The fire wardens shall at all times have authority to refuse permits and/or to revoke the same and to postpone their use when issued, when they shall deem it necessary so to do in the interest of public safety. Any permits obtained by misrepresentation shall be invalid.

In seasons, localities and under conditions of unusual fire danger, the director, with the advice of the fire warden of any protective district, shall have the power to extend the period of closed fire season in any district of the aforementioned districts to meet the particular fire hazard of each district, and when the safety of the public requires, change the closed season in any district by fixing inclusive dates other than those herein designated; close to entry therein by any person or party, the forest and range lands in any section of the state wherein a critical fire hazard exists, and may restrict or suspend travel on any road or trail leading into any such land, until a permit shall have secured from the fire warden of the forest protective district wherein such lands are situated, and may also, without proclamation, suspend any and all permits or privileges authorized by this section and prohibit the setting of any campfires, and/or fire in forest and range land or dangerously near to such, or in fields in any forest protective district.

Any violation of the provisions of this section shall be deemed a misdemeanor.

History:

[38-115, added 1972, ch. 401, sec. 2, p. 1164; am. 1974, ch. 17, sec. 7, p. 308.]