This Land, Your Land

As prescribed burns continue to be scheduled on North Carolina recreation lands, the State Parks said today a burn will be conducted later this month at Jordan Lake State Recreation Area.

The controlled fire is to cover a 155-acre area near the public entrance to the RV campsites and shoreline at the Vista Point Access.

"Some plant communities and animal species rely on periodic fire for their existence," a state parks news release says. "The prescribed burn will also reduce the amount of potential wildfire fuel. The prescribed burn will help protect the park’s resources and neighboring landowners if lightning, arson or carelessness spark a wildfire."

The fire will be set when weather conditions make it safe. Monitor the state parks website page for Jordan Lake (through the link above) or our Twitter feed, @NCOutdoorsGuide, for notice of the burn.

Vista Point, one of five campgrounds at Jordan Lake, has 50 group camping sites for RVs and five group camping sites for tents. Vista Point is off of U.S. 64 and North Pea Ridge Road north of Pittsboro.

State parks officials have announced plans for a prescribed burn in the Linwood Access area of Crowders Mountain State Park sometime between December 5 and 15.

The project will require that some areas of the Gaston County park be closed to the public during the event, a news release says.

The precise date of the fire will depend on weather conditions, but it will begin in the late morning and end by late afternoon. Follow-up operations could last for several days, and all areas on or around the Crowders Mountain summit will be closed to the public, including the Linwood Access parking area and trailhead, Tower Trail, Crowders Trail (Linwood section only), Backside Trail and Rock Top Trail, until the park staff determines the area is safe for visitors.

In addition to helping plants and animals that rely on periodic fire for their existence, prescribed burns reduce the amount of potential wildfire fuel.

Monitor the state parks alerts page, at http://www.ncparks.gov/Visit/alerts/main.php, for notice of when the burn will be conducted.

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."