NEBO, NC (March 19, 2019) — The U.S. Forest Service is planning a 197-acre prescribed burn in northern Caldwell County on the Grandfather Ranger District of the Pisgah National Forest on Wednesday, March 20.
Whether or not the burn is carried out will depend on site-specific weather conditions and smoke modeling data. All prescribed burns follow smoke management guidelines to reduce impacts to the public.
Thunderhole Road (FSR 4071) will be closed starting on the morning of the burn and is expected to reopen the next day. Be aware of the potential for firefighter traffic near the area. The safety of the public and firefighters is the highest priority during a prescribed burn.
The objective of the Boyd Gap burn is to reduce fuels to prevent catastrophic wildfire in communities near the national forest. The Nature Conservancy, North Carolina Forest Service, and Blowing Rock Volunteer Fire Department are assisting in burn operations.
The burn is part of the Grandfather Restoration Project to restore 40,000 acres of the Grandfather Ranger District. One of the primary goals of the project is to return a natural fire regime to fire-adapted ecosystems in a controlled manner. This benefits native forests and woodlands and threatened and endangered species, while reducing costs and severity of future wildfires. Many species of wildlife depend upon the early successional habitat that is improved by prescribed burns.
Boyd Gap is approximately two miles due south of Blowing Rock in extreme northern Caldwell County.
Learn more about restoring fire to the mountains on our website at http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/nfsnc/RestoringFire
If you are interested in viewing a close up of the above map, click here for a downloadable topo map.