Prescribed burns are one of the park rangers’ most important tools to protect their national parks and ecosystems. By intentionally burning off the excess vegetation like dry grass, shrubs, and dead wood, prescribed burns ultimately reduce the chance of wildfires because there won’t be any old vegetation to catch fire later. It’s far better for the National Forest Service and local fire teams to do the burns in a controlled setting than to watch it get out of hand later in the year. Here are the national parks across America that are currently in their burning phase:
- Shenandoah National Park: Fire managers plan to burn approximately 40 acres of Big Meadows and 20 acres in the park’s headquarters. Weather permitting, the burn will start on March 11 and end around April 30th.
- Voyageurs National Park: This month, burns will take place in selected wetlands near Black Bay and Cranberry Bay on Rainy Lake to eliminate invasive hybrid cattails and reduce woody plant encroachment.
- Cape Cod National Seashore: Prescribed burns will occur at Fort Hill in Eastham during the second week of March. The affected area will be 14 acres along the hillside adjacent to the upper parking lot at Fort Hill.
- George Washington Carver National Monument: From March 10th to the 14th, this national monument plans a prescribed burn of about 100 acres to reduce woody species. While the area will be open to visitors, the Carver trail will be closed.
During these times, you may see plumes of smoke in the area. Rest assured that the National Park Service and the USDA Forest Service have everything under control. In fact, prescribed burns might even reduce future wildfire severity by more than 60%, according to the Forest Service.
