The areas are small openings in the forest that range from two to 20 acres.
By Terry Karkos
Staff Writer

ALBANY TOWNSHIP – Despite a rash of grass fires occurring throughout Oxford and Franklin counties this week, the U.S. Forest Service began its annual spring burning program.

The forest service, based out of the Androscoggin Ranger District in Gorham, N.H., does controlled burns in White Mountain National Forest sites in the New Hampshire towns of Berlin, Randolph, Lancaster, and Milan. Prescribed burns are also slated for WMNF sites in Albany Township, said Androscoggin Ranger Station dispatcher Jenny Young.

“They did one yesterday on 3.5 acres in Albany by Bell Mountain,” Young said Tuesday morning. Another burn was planned for Tuesday on five acres near the Harriman Brook Road, but high winds pre-empted the work, Young added.

The areas are mostly small openings in the forest, that range from two to 20 acres. A total of about 59 acres is planned for burning in the Androscoggin Ranger District this spring, said WMNF spokesman Pat Nasta.

“Prescribed fire is a management tool used to maintain wildlife openings in the forest to provide grassy meadows or shrubby areas – essential habitat for some forest dwellers,” Nasta said.

Prescribed fire coordinator Craig Young, who is monitoring the weather and moisture levels in various sites around the forest, said that before any burning is done, crews follow a site-specific burn plan for each area.

“We wait for the right wind, weather and moisture levels that will allow us to burn safely,” Craig Young said.

The burn plans also spell out details for the kinds of equipment and number of trained firefighters needed at each site, and coordination with local fire departments, he added.

“Periodic burning of these sites helps to maintain the open habitat feeding, nesting, and cover for many wildlife species,” said forest service wildlife biologist Lesley Rowse.

Other objectives include firefighting training and hazardous fuel reduction – eliminating woody and flammable materials from areas at risk for wildfire, Nasta said.

The burn sites are “mostly well away from populated areas and will cause little if any inconvenience to national forest visitors,” Craig Young added.

For more information, phone the Androscoggin Ranger Station at 603-466-2713.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com