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That smoke in the air this fall may be no accident. Forest Service crews plan to set controlled fires on 726 acres of the Monongahela National Forest in Pocahontas and Tucker counties from mid-October through mid-November, and residents and visitors could see and smell the smoke for several days.
Monongahela National Forest staff announced the fall prescribed burns earlier this month. The work depends on the weather. Three areas are on the list:
- Upper Greenbrier North, 464 acres, Pocahontas County
- Upper John B. Hollow, 210 acres, Tucker County
- Nursery Bottom, 52 acres, Tucker County
The burns are meant “to re-establish fire’s natural role in the forest ecosystem, improve forest health and wildlife habitat, and reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires,” the Forest Service said.
Each area will be closed to the public on the day it burns and may stay closed for several days afterward. Signs will go up on roads near the burn areas before and during burning.
Drivers who run into smoke on a highway should slow down, turn on their lights and “drive appropriately for the conditions,” the agency said.
Crews burn only when conditions allow. The Forest Service weighs temperature, humidity, smoke dispersion and wind, and it postpones a burn when any of them falls outside its limits. The agency said it will share more information ahead of each burn.
Potential burns are also proposed closer to Upshur County. The forest’s Greenbrier Ranger District is taking public comments on a project about 3 miles east of Valley Bend in Randolph County, along County Route 37 and Forest Road 487. It calls for treatments on about 1,468 acres of a 3,144-acre project area, including prescribed fire on 965 acres along with commercial and non-commercial forest treatments.
Field surveys found that the area, like much of the national forest, has less young forest and fewer oak-dominated stands than the Forest Plan calls for, the district said. Species such as maple are gaining ground on oaks and other fire-adapted trees. That leaves less variety of habitat for wildlife including ruffed grouse, golden-winged warblers, American woodcock and pollinators.
Comments on the project, called the Crawford Focus Area, are due Nov. 13. They may be emailed to comments-eastern-monongahelagreenbrier@usda.gov with “Crawford Focus Area” in the subject line, or mailed to District Ranger Shane Jones, Greenbrier Ranger District, P.O. Box 67, Bartow, WV 24920. They may also be dropped off at the Bartow office, 7409 Staunton Parkersburg Turnpike, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays, except holidays.
Project documents are on the project webpage.
