Year of Fire

Given normal conditions, this installment of the “Year of Fire” series would have included an update on numbers of acres burned at Lake James State Park during the spring. These have been anything but normal conditions and the prescribed fire program here has been halted for the time being.

That said, fire managers within the division are keeping options open for a “warm season” burn if weather conditions and personnel availability ever align. A warm season burn is a fire that takes place during late spring and into the summer; when plants are actively growing and green, leafy material is at its highest abundance. Such prescribed burns are difficult to pull off. Green leaves and supple branches do not burn easily and high humidity tends to quash fire activity. When the stars do align, however, growing season burns can be especially beneficial for habitat restoration efforts. Non-fire adapted species, like tulip poplar, sweet gum and Virginia pine are rendered especially susceptible, while trees that evolved with fire, like hickories, oaks and shortleaf pines thrive.

It remains to be seen whether or not any of the Lake James State Park burn units will receive a warm season fire, but if they do it will represent a new and exciting chapter in the park’s fire program.