Shenandoah National Park Plans Prescribed Burns for 2012

Shenandoah National Park Fire Managers are planning several prescribed burns in the park this year. Ignition of prescribed fire is dependent on favorable weather conditions, and due to weather uncertainty, it is not possible to predict the exact dates for each burn.

Prescribed fires are ignited by fire managers under a pre-determined set of conditions, including weather, fuel moisture and resource availability, in order to accomplish specific resource management objectives. The following burns are planned for this year:

� Big Meadows Prescribed Burn: A portion of Big Meadows, the open area across from Byrd Visitor Center, is burned each year. Between now and April, approximately 35-65 acres will be treated using controlled fire for the purpose of maintaining the open vista by preventing encroachment by trees and shrubs.

� Jarman Gap Prescribed Burn: Two sections totaling 508 acres will be burned over two to three days in the early spring. This prescribed burn is located in the South District from Sawmill Run Overlook to Jarman Gap. The burn is designed to improve habitat for yellow pine and oak communities which require fire to regenerate.

� HQ RAWS Field Prescribed Burn: Approximately one acre located at park headquarters will be treated with controlled fire in order to reduce woody plants in the vicinity of one of the park's Remote Automated Weather Stations (RAWS).

All prescribed burns will be conducted as interagency projects, with local support, under the guidance and direction of trained and experienced National Park Service personnel.






Jeff
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Prescribed Burn in McDowell County to temporarily close three trails

The U.S. Forest Service plans to implement a prescribed burn on Singecat Ridge in McDowell County between now and late March, depending on the weather. The prescribed burn could occur as early as Tuesday, March 6.

The Forest Service�s Grandfather Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest plans to burn approximately 2,000 acres on National Forest land and around 100 acres on Blue Ridge Parkway land. The center of the burn unit will be approximately 10 miles northwest of the city of Marion. The boundary of the burn is the Blue Ridge Parkway to the north, Bee Rock Creek also on the north above the Armstrong Fish Hatchery, Highway 80 on the west, and Singecat Branch and Armstrong Creek on the east.

This is the first prescribed burn conducted under the Grandfather Restoration Project. Last month, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack announced $605,000 in Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration program funding for the project.

Woods Mountain Trail #218, Armstrong Creek Trail #223, and Bad Fork Trail #204 will be closed for the duration of the project, which may last up to five days to provide for visitor safety.


Jeff
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Prescribed burns scheduled for Pisgah National Forest

This week the USDA Forest Service in North Carolina announced plans to conduct prescribed burns near the areas of Max Patch and Harmon Den in Haywood County, as well as near Dobson Knob in Burke County. All three burns will occur between now and early December, depending on the weather.

The Forest Service�s Appalachian Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest plans to burn a total of 950 acres on National Forest land in two separate prescribed burns.

The Forest Service will burn approximately 500 acres in the Cherry Creek area. The boundary is Harmon Den Road to Cherry Creek Trail.

A 450-acre prescribed fire is scheduled to occur in Max Patch. The boundary line will be Max Patch Road to Buckeye Ridge Horse Trail.

The Forest Service�s Grandfather Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest plans to burn approximately 1,250 acres on National Forest land. The boundary of the burn is Forest Service Road 106 to the north and the rest of the burn will be bordered by the Black Fork and Yellow Fork Creek. There will be a small section of handline (built with handtools similar to a trail) that will connect FSR 106 to Yellow Fork Creek.

The prescribed burns will reduce the amount of hazardous fuels in the forest, improve wildlife habitat, and maintain fire-dependent and fire-adapted species.


Jeff
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Controlled burns in Cades Cove this week

If weather permits, the Great Smoky Mountains will be conducting prescribed burns in Cades Cove between Monday and Thursday of this week. The Loop Road will remain open, but delays may be possible. Fires may be visible from the roadway and visitors may encounter smoke in the valley and along the roadway. Temporary closures of the Primitive Baptist Church, the Methodist Church, and Abrams Fall trailhead are also possible.

Also, as a reminder, the Cades Cove Loop Road will be closed for two days during the week of November 28 - December 2 for hemlock woolly adelgid spraying. Spray operations are weather dependent. Exact dates will be posted once they are determined.

Please click here for more information.


Jeff
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Smokies to Conduct Prescribed Burns in Cades Cove Next Week

Fire managers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park plan to conduct a series of prescribed burns of fields in Cades Cove on Tuesday through Friday, November 1st through 4th if weather conditions permit. Park managers plan to burn several tracts totaling about 550 acres.

The selected fields are being burned as part of a cost-effective strategy to prevent the open fields from being reclaimed by forest. The Park contracts to mow about 950 acres of fields that are clearly visible from the Cades Cove Loop Road twice a year. Other fields that are less visible from the Loop Road, totaling around 1,500 acres, are kept open by burning or mowing on a three year rotation.

Without being either mowed or burned, the open meadows of the Cove would very quickly revert to pine and hardwood forest. That process would both alter the historically open landscape which characterized the Cove during its period of settlement, and deprive Park visitors of the excellent wildlife viewing opportunities that the Cove affords.

The burn will be conducted by the members of the Great Smoky Wildland Fire Module and the Cumberland Gap Wildland Fire Module, with additional resources from Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The Fire Modules are National Park Service teams which travel throughout the Southeast to conduct prescribed burns on National Park Service units as well as other federal lands. Firefighters and a Park engine will be assigned each day to ignite the grass lands and to make sure the fire stays within its prescribed boundaries. Strips of grass surrounding each field slated for burning have been mowed short to provide containment lines.

"At this point we do not expect to have to close the Cades Cove Loop Road, but will monitor the situation for smoke or other safety hazards," said Great Smoky Wildland Fire Module Supervisor, Shane Paxton. "The public, of course, will notice smoke in the valley but it will dissipate quickly and not unduly impact their visit," he said.


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