The New Jersey Forest Fire Service burns land in an effort to reduce the amount of real forest fires, which is about 1,500 annually. Watch video
Today, the New Jersey State Forest Fire Service plans to set ablaze fields, forests and woodlands in six counties, from Sussex to Cumberland, in an effort to prevent future forest fires.
The service calls it prescribed burns, or controlled burns, and they expect to burn between 10,000 and 20,000 acres this spring, depending on weather conditions.
The Forest Fire Service is trying to reduce the amount of real forest fires they respond to, which is about 1,500 annually. Many threaten homes in the Pine Barrens, the coastal marshes along the Jersey Shore and on ridges of the mountains of North Jersey.
The planned burns send large plumes of smoke into the air, sometimes causing people to think a real forest fire has started, but the service publicizes them and posts advisories on their Facebook page.
Here are some details of the burn program:
1) Prescribed burning in New Jersey dates to 1928. Prescribed burning is defined by the forest fire service as "the skillful application of fire under exacting conditions of weather and fuel in a predetermined area, for a specific purpose to achieve specific results."
2) Prescribed burns are carried out by trained, experienced woodland firefighters under precise weather conditions with certain equipment, the state says. Roads in areas where burns are taking place are clearly marked and motorists are asked to slow down in the area. Not all burns occur during the day; the night sometimes has the best weather conditions.
3) Woodland firefighters start fires using a device called a "drip torch." A five or six person burning crew can burn 600 to 1,000 acres in a day.
4) The state says burns help keep forest ecosystems healthy by improving habitat for wildlife, managing competing species of plants and trees, controlling insects and disease, and recycling important nutrients into the soil.
5) Most prescribed burns will occur on state-owned property, such as state forests and wildlife management areas. But private lands are eligible for prescribed burns by the land owner. A detailed application on how to do a controlled burn on private land is on the forest fire service's website.
6) Native Americans were the first to introduce prescribed burning to New Jersey's woodlands. The state says research suggests that the Lenni-Lenape Indians may have used this practice for over 1,000 years. They primarily burned land to facilitate travel, improve hunting, drive away insects, and also increase the supply of nuts and berries.
7) Prescribed burns could help plant new trees. Some species of pine trees in Jersey's Pine Barrens, sometimes called pygmy or dwarf pine, produce serotinous pine cones that are hard and basically glued shut with a strong resin. Fire - whether it's from a prescribed burn or a real forest fire - melts the cones, releasing the seeds.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.