Forest Service plans prescribed burn at Bent Creek

The USDA Forest Service is planning a prescribed burn in June or July on about 42 acres of national forest land on the Bent Creek Experimental Forest. The study will help agency scientists understand how the timing of prescribed burning affects hardwood regeneration — primarily for oaks — along with herbaceous vegetation, fuel loading and breeding bird communities. The areas to be burned include three forest compartments near the Lake Powhatan Recreation Area, adjacent to Forest Service Roads 479 and 664.

Photo by Jonathan Welch