The U.S. Forest Service is looking at seven southern Indiana counties for prescribed burns in the Hoosier National Forest.
The fires maintain the habitat by burning away ground vegetation to allow sunlight to reach sprouting seedlings. Hoosier National Forest district ranger Chris Thornton said one of the main habitats they burn is the oak and hickory tree forests.
“Oak is a species that really needs a disturbance to reseed and grow in an area and be successful,” he said. “So fire creates those perfect light conditions for oak and hickory trees that are new to the forest, younger trees, to grow and become a part of the forest in the future.”
Environmental activist groups have voiced concerns in previous years that the fires, and removing some trees in the areas, would cause sediment runoff to go into Lake Monroe.
“If we utilize our best management practices, we picked the right burn day, the right weather conditions, there will be no effect from prescribed fires or any of the activities in that project on Monroe Lake,” Thornton said.
Related: Controlled burn in Hoosier National Forest to move forward despite opposition
Dates for the burn haven’t been scheduled. The burns typically happen in the spring, and 13-20 days each year present the right weather conditions.
“This is a big list, and we would like to do them all,” Thornton said. “They're all ecologically important, but I know we won't get to all of them.”
The U.S. Forest Service determines if it’s a safe burn day within a 24-hour window, and will announce those days on Facebook and X.
