Unseasonably warm weather and dried out vegetation have created high fire danger in Western parks/NPS file, Patrick Myers

Unseasonably warm weather and ongoing drought have created dangerous fire conditions in parks in the West, including Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Colorado and Zion National Park in Utah.

Those two parks are just the latest to institute fire restrictions. Previously, Grand Canyon National Park,  Bandelier National Monument, Fort Union National Monument, Pecos National Historical Park, and Valles Caldera National Preserve, all in New Mexico, issued bans against fires in their parks.

On Monday, Zion officials said that dry grass was contributing to the fire danger in their park, and put in place bans on campfires and smoking in vegetated areas of the park.

"Park officials feel that the risk to public safety and property within Zion National Park from a human-caused fire is great enough that these restrictions are necessary," a park release said. "Late winter and early spring rains have led to an abundant crop of invasive grasses growing in Zion Canyon. These grasses are now curing out and becoming extremely flammable. They present a significant fire danger to park visitors and facilities, especially in the campgrounds in Zion Canyon."

For the time being, the following fire restrictions were instituted for Zion:

• Setting, building, maintaining, attending, or using a campfire (including charcoal) in campgrounds, picnic areas, or permanently improved places of habitation.*     
  *Stoves and grills fueled by petroleum fuels such as Liquid Propane Gas (LPG), butane, or white gas are allowed.
• Smoking in vegetated areas.*
  *No smoking except in an enclosed vehicle, or a developed recreation site clear of vegetation, or other areas devoid of vegetation with a minimum of three (3) feet in diameter clear down to mineral soil.
• Discharging, or using any kind of fireworks or other pyrotechnic devices, is prohibited at all times on all federal lands, including Zion National Park.

Violation of the above, prohibited acts is punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 and/or imprisonment for not more than twelve months, or both.

At Great Sand Dunes, officials said the entire park is "under extreme fire danger due to below-normal moisture conditions combined with unseasonably warm temperatures and windy conditions."

"The resulting low fuel moisture situation has created severe wildfire conditions and any fire ignitions may result in extreme fire behavior," a park release added. "Additionally, long-term forecasts do not anticipate significant improvement in current conditions and the availability of firefighting resources is limited. Such conditions create a severe hazard to human health and safety and the potential for serious damage to park resources should a wildfire be ignited."

Due to those conditions, park officials said that as of June 3 the building, maintaining, attending, or using an open flame including fire, campfire, stove fire, charcoal grills and barbeques, coal and wood burning stoves, and smoking are banned in the park.