Crews to conduct burns in Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Smoke visible from Interstate 5.

Communities and motorists on Interstate 5 and other roads may see smoke plumes from controlled burning starting Sunday and lasting throughout the early part of the week, according to the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

The burns are part of a larger project by the U.S. Forest Service "to reduce tree density and re-introduce fire back into the forest under specific prescribed conditions," according to U.S. Forest Service Public Affairs Officer Ruth Esperance.

Crews will conduct prescribed burns in the McBride project area, along the Everitt Memorial Highway, north of Mount Shasta, Esperance said.

People will likely see the smoke plumes southeast of Weed on the east side of I-5, she confirmed.

Motorists are asked to be careful driving on the Everitt Memorial Highway, Esperance said, and to watch for fire engines, vehicles and crews working on or near the road.

The U.S. Forest Service plans controlled burns over as much as 30,000 acres of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest over the next “several” years, the Forest Service’s prescribed fire and fuel planner Brandon Dethlefs said.

The U.S. Forest Service plans controlled burns over as much as 30,000 acres of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest over the next “several” years, the Forest Service’s prescribed fire and fuel planner Brandon Dethlefs said.

Most projects involve burning 100 to 5,000 acres at a time, he said.

Controlled burns planned this coming autumn will include parts of the north woods near Packers Bay, Lakehead and Sugarloaf areas west of the community of Lakehead, Green Mountain north of Silverthorn Resort and Backbone areas west of O’Brian Mountain.

“An important consideration when planning prescribed burns is smoke, including how much will be produced and who will be affected by it,” Dethlefs said. “Prescribed fire managers work ― with county air quality regulators" to calculate how much smoke a controlled burn will make and where it will go. He added: “They diligently monitor atmospheric conditions in order to select the best possible timeframes to implement prescribed burns to minimize smoke impacts to communities as well as to provide firefighting resources with the best possible circumstances to accomplish the burn objectives safely.”

For more information on when burns will happen, go to the Shasta-Trinity National Forest’s Facebook page at facebook.com/ShastaTrinityNF.

Jessica Skropanic is a features reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. She covers science, arts, social issues and news stories. Follow her on Twitter @RS_JSkropanic and on Facebook. Join Jessica in the Get Out! Nor Cal recreation Facebook group. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Shasta-Trinity National Forest fire crews plan controlled burns