(FOX40.COM) — Those in the French Meadows and North Lake Tahoe area may see some smoke rising from the forest on Wednesday as the Tahoe National Forest team begins a 262-acre prescribed burn.

Weather conditions permitting, the burn will start sometime on Wednesday near the French Meadows Reservoir and last through Friday.

The national forest said that smoke drifts will be monitored and they will take every measure to reduce smoke making its way into nearby communities.

This burn is part of a 28,000-acre forest health project called the French Meadows Forest Restoration Project.

It aims to reduce the risk of high-severity wildfires near the headwaters of the American River and improve overall forest resilience.

The two most recent large-scale fires that neared the shores of the French Meadows Reservoir were the Star Fire in 2001 and the King Fire in 2014.

The Star Fire would burn nearly 16,500 acres of forestland along Red Star Ridge and into the steep canyon of the Middle Fork of the 

American River.

The King Fire reached 97,685 acres and stretched from north of Hell Hole Reservoir to just north of Pollock Pines along the South Fork of the American River.

Wednesday’s prescribed burn is one of several in the Tahoe region as forest management teams continue to use these burns as a way to reduce fuel load and as a way to safely learn how fire’s behave in their forests.