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Contact: Christopher Derman, (423) 569-9778
During the next few weeks, fire crews will be preparing for upcoming prescribed burns and the spring fire season.Fire is an essential, natural process, having shaped the landscape for thousands of years, releasing, and recycling nutrients tied up in vegetation, duff, and organic soil layers, improving the overall health of plants and animals.
Recognizing the value of fire in the ecosystem, park managers use prescribed burning to not only protect property and maintain human safety, but also to maintain the natural processes fire dependent communities rely on.
Implementation of burn operations is dependent upon a variety of conditions. Prescribed fires are conducted within specific parameters including temperature, relative humidity, fuel moisture, and wind speed to name a few.
Last updated: February 28, 2018