BEDFORD, Ind. — The USDA Forest Service plans to conduct seasonal prescribed burning in late winter, early spring, and fall on the Hoosier National Forest. The purpose is to maintain, restore, or improve early successional habitat for wildlife, maintain wetlands, restore and maintain unique barren ecosystems, and restore oak-hickory-dominated ecosystems.
Scientific research supports using prescribed burning to reintroduce low-intensity fire to its natural role within the ecosystem. Prescribed burning also reduces the amount of woody material on the forest floor, thereby lowering the risk of catastrophic wildfire, and diversifying the understory plant community.
Approximately 9,000 acres are planned to receive treatment with prescribed fire in 2023 on National Forest System lands and through agreements with private landowners in the following counties: Crawford, Jackson, Lawrence, Orange, and Perry.
An average of 12 days per year meet the stringent requirements for prescribed burning to occur in the Hoosier National Forest. Before lighting a burn, specific conditions are met including parameters for fuel moisture, wind speed and direction, and relative humidity. Decisions are generally made on the day of the burn, therefore, advance-specific notification for a particular burn can be difficult.
Forest staff notifies residents and businesses in the immediate area of the prescribed burn. Check for burn announcements at facebook.com/HoosierNF/ and twitter.com/HoosierNF. Maps and additional details of the burn areas are available at inciweb.wildfire.gov/.
Forest neighbors who wish to be notified of a specific date of a burn, or want to report medical conditions that could be affected by smoke, should call 812-547-9262.