PILOT MOUNTAIN — A prescribed burn is being held today at Pilot Mountain State Park.
Matt Windsor, park superintendent, made the announcement this morning that the burn was planned for the Yadkin River Section of the park.
Prescribed burns are held periodically at the state park as a forestry-management tool, to prepare sites for replanting, reduce the risk of wildfires, control insects and diseases and increase the productivity of a forest.
However, the controlled-burn operations can be done only if weather conditions permit, which prevents officials from announcing specific times for burns well in advance. One factor is making sure wind is appropriate to keep smoke from obscuring travel by motorists in the area.
Two units, of 80 and 55 acres unit are involved in today’s burn, according to park information.
The schedule for past controlled-burn operations has them typically beginning in late morning and ending by mid-afternoon, with Department of Transportation safety signs alerting motorists to the prescribed fire and asking them not to report the incident.
