This Land, Your Land

The National Forest Service has announced plans for prescribed burns in Burke and Haywood county locations in the Pisgah National Forest in the next few weeks.

The Haywood County burn is to include two projects covering about 950 acres near Harmon Den (home to a horse camp closed for the season) and the Max Patch bald. These include aproximately 500 acres between Harmon Den Road and Cherry Creek Trail, and about 450 acres between Max Patch Road and Buckeye Ridge Horse Trail.

The Burke County project is to burn approximately 1,250 acres near near Dobson Knob south of Forest Service Road 106 to Black Fork and Yellow Fork Creek.

The fires are to be set between now and "early December," weather permitting, the Forest Service says in a news release

Prescribed burns reduce the buildup of dead wood, shrubs and other vegetation, and decrease the chance of severe wildfire, the release says.

"Numerous native plants and animals need fire in their habitats to reduce competition from invading species, and to add nutrients back into the soil," according to the Forest Service. "Prescribed burning also helps support strategic goals of restoring ecological systems to their natural resilience, restoring native vegetation, and protecting people and resources from catastrophic fires."