Several prescribed burning projects to take place across Virginia this spring; Fire managers plan to burn 11,456 acres
Rangers in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests will start doing controlled burns as early as February. The Eastern Divide Ranger District will do a number of controlled burns to reduce forest fuels, improve wildlife habitat, bring back features of an ecosystem that can handle fire, and protect communities better. This spring, people in charge of fires plan to burn 11,456 acres.
One of the most important things the Forest Service does to improve forest health and lower the risk of wildfires is set fires. The Forest Service’s top priority is safety, so fire managers will only do controlled burns when the weather is right.
There will be planned burns in the following places:
The 715-acre Brush Mountain West burn unit is in Montgomery County, Virginia. It is about 2.5 miles north of Blacksburg and 2.5 miles south of Newport.
The 50-acre Brush Mountain East burn unit is next to the Preston Forest neighborhood, 2.5 miles north of Blacksburg and 2.5 miles south of Newport.
In Giles County, Virginia, the 597-acre Kelly Flats burn area is north of Big Stoney Creek Road (County Road 635), north of Interior, and northwest of the Glen Alton Recreation Area.
The 369-acre Mill Creek burn is east of the Fenwick Recreation site in Craig County, Virginia. People in the Fenwick Mines Recreation Area, New Castle, Barbours Creek, and Oriskany may be able to see smoke.
The 1,946-acre Sinking Creek burn is right next to the Caldwell Fields recreation area on Forest Road 630, east of County Road 621.
The 808-acre Potts Mountain Unit 8 burn is on Forest Roads 277.1 and 176, which are east of State Route 311 and 10 miles northeast of New Castle.
The 728-acre North Mountain Prescribed Burn Area is between the towns of Catawba and Abbott, east of State Route 311, on the north side of North Mountain.
Pulaski County, Virginia: The 3,338-acre Tract Mountain Unit 1 burn area is three miles west of the town of Pulaski and north of the Gatewood Reservoir on Gatewood Park Road.
Botetourt County, Virginia: The 2,553-acre Price Mountain burn area is north of County Road 606 and northeast of New Castle. It is on and around Price Mountain.
The 352-acre Craig Creek Recreation burn area is in the Craig Creek Recreation site, which is off County Road 817 and 1.5 miles east of Oriskany.
For the safety of the public, people who go to the forest or use it for recreation should be aware of fire crews and vehicles in these areas. Please be careful, as roads and trails may be used as control lines for the burn and could be temporarily affected by low-intensity fire and smoke. For public safety, trails may be closed for a short time during the burn.
For more information about our prescribed burn program, please call the Eastern Divide Ranger District office at (540) 552-4641, visit our website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/gwj, or follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/GWJNF and Facebook.
