People who live in and near longleaf pine forests from the Sandhills to the Coast in southeastern North Carolina will soon start seeing smoke as The Nature Conservancy and its conservation partners conduct controlled burns to restore the forest.
Frequent, low-intensity fires knock back shrubs and other vegetation—allowing plants like Venus flytraps to thrive on the forest floor. Some plants need fire for their very existence. Officials the burns also improve habitat for animals like turkey and deer and reduce ticks and remove vegetation that can fuel large damaging wildfires.
Most controlled burns are conducted January through May, although some burning will continue through the summer months and into the fall.
They add that controlled burns are undertaken by highly trained crews with years of experience and only under the most favorable weather conditions.
