George Washington and Jefferson National Forest Park Rangers will begin conducting prescribed burns starting potentially in February. The Eastern Divide Ranger District will implement several prescribed burning projects to reduce forest fuels, improve conditions of wildlife habitat, restore characteristics of a fire-adapted ecosystem, and better protect communities. Fire managers plan to burn 11,456 acres this spring.
Prescribed burning is one of the most important tools the Forest Service utilizes to improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk. Safety is the Forest Service’s top priority, and fire managers will conduct prescribed burns only under appropriate weather conditions.
Planned burns will be scheduled in the following locations:
Montgomery County, Va.: The 715-acre Brush Mountain West burn unit is located 2.5 miles North of Blacksburg and 2.5 miles south of Newport.
The 50-acre Brush Mountain East burn unit is located adjacent to the Preston Forest neighborhood, 2.5 miles north of Blacksburg, and 2.5 south of Newport.
Giles County, Va.: The 597-acre Kelly Flats burn area is located north of Big Stoney Creek Road (County Road 635), northwest of the Glen Alton Recreation Area, and north of Interior.
Craig County, Va.: The 369-acre Mill Creek burn is located east of Fenwick Recreation site. Smoke may be visible from Fenwick Mines Recreation Area, New Castle, Barbours Creek and Oriskany.
The 1,946-acre Sinking Creek burn is located east of County Road 621 directly adjacent to the Caldwell Fields recreation area on Forest Road 630.
The 808-acres Potts Mountain Unit 8 burn is located east of State Route 311 and 10 miles northeast of New Castle along Forest Road 277.1 and 176.
The 728-acre North Mountain prescribed burn area is located on the north side of North Mountain, east of State Route 311 between the towns of Catawba and Abbott.
Pulaski County, Va.: The 3,338-acre Tract Mountain Unit 1 burn area is located north of the Gatewood Reservoir and three miles west of the town of Pulaski along Gatewood Park Road.
Botetourt County, Va.: The 2,553-acre Price Mountain burn area is located on and around Price Mountain, north of County Road 606 and northeast of New Castle.
The 352-acre Craig Creek Recreation burn area is in the Craig Creek Recreation site, 1.5 miles east of Oriskany off County Road 817.
For public safety, forest visitors and recreationists are asked to be aware of fire crews and vehicles in these areas. Please take caution as roads and trails may be used as control lines for the burn and could be temporarily impacted by low-intensity fire and smoke. Trails may be closed for a short duration during the burn for public safety.
For more information on our prescribed burn program, please contact the Eastern Divide Ranger District office at (540-552-4641), visit our website https://www.fs.usda.gov/gwj or follow twitter: https://twitter.com/GWJNF and Face
