UPDATE Tuesday, Nov. 6: A prescribed burn planned for 160 acres is under way today at Estero Bluffs State Park north of Cayucos. State Parks and Cal Fire are conducting the burn.

Original story: State Parks plans to do prescribed burning of up to 600 acres on the North Coast as conditions permit over the next 10 weeks.

The grasslands burns could take place anytime from Monday through Dec. 28 on a total of about 400 acres near San Simeon Creek Road and Highway 1, at Piedras Blancas and north of Arroyo de la Cruz in Hearst San Simeon State Park north of Cambria, and on up to 200 acres in the western portions of Estero Bluffs north of Cayucos.

The vegetation management burn is intended to make native plant communities there healthier, encourage other native species to thrive in the park areas and help control non-native, weedy species.

Cal Fire and State Parks are to do the work. In the Piedras Blancas Outstanding Natural Area, the burns are to be done with the cooperation of the federal Bureau of Land Management, which manages the property and the light station there.

For details, call Vince Cicero of State Parks at 471-2049.