Hot, dry weather and baked vegetation have prompted tighter fire restrictions for visitors to Arches and Canyonlands national parks and other public lands in southeastern Utah.

The new restrictions, put in place Friday, pertain to the following lands:

• State lands and unincorporated private lands in Carbon, Emery, Grand and San Juan counties.
• Bureau of Land Management Moab, Price, and Monticello field office areas located in Carbon, Emery, Grand, and San Juan Counties.
• National Park Service including Canyonlands and Arches national parks, and Natural Bridges and Hovenweep national monuments.
• U.S. Forest Service Moab, Monticello, Price, and Sanpete ranger districts of the Manti-La Sal National Forest, areas within Carbon, Emery, Grand, San Juan, and Sanpete counties in Utah, and Mesa and Montrose counties in Colorado.

New restriction orders supersede previous restriction orders for participating agencies and will be in place until the fire hazard subsides. Maps and specific information about the restrictions may be found at: https://utahfireinfo.gov/fire-restrictions/.

Fire restriction orders are specific to each agency and may contain different stipulations, but all the orders have the following prohibited acts in common:

1. No campfires (wood or charcoal) anywhere, including designated campgrounds.
2. No smoking, except within an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site, or while stopped in an area that is paved, barren, or cleared to mineral soil.
3. No metal cutting, welding, or grinding activities in areas of dry vegetation.
4. No discharging or using any kind of fireworks, steel tipped/core ammunition, tracer ammunition or other pyrotechnic devices including exploding targets.
5. Permissible acts – using devices fueled by petroleum or liquid propane gas (LPG) with a shut-off valve is allowed in areas clear of flammable vegetation within three feet of the device.

For more information about fire restrictions (including the orders from each agency), wildfires, fire prevention, and fuels treatment projects visit this website. Always extinguish campfires, dispose of cigarettes properly, stay on roads and trails to avoid dry vegetation, and ensure trailer chains do not drag or create sparks. Fire sense is common sense. You know coals and sparks plus dry grass create trouble, so the next time you’re enjoying the great outdoors, use your brain before things get too hot.