Bays Mountain Park to conduct prescribed burn next week

Bays Mountain Park will be performing a prescribed burn next week as a proactive measure to help reduce the catastrophic damage of wildfire by safely reducing excessive brush, shrubs and trees.

A prescribed fire is the skillful and planned use of fire on a landscape under specific weather and fuel conditions to help restore health to many ecosystems. The Tennessee Division of Forestry promotes the safe use of prescribed fire on both state and private lands in Tennessee.

Weather permitting, the prescribed burn at Bays Mountain Park will take place between April 7-9 and encompass roughly seven acres of land near the peak of the mountain (where the radio towers are located). The burn will take approximately two hours to complete.

Bays Mountain Park will be open to the public during the prescribed burn, however there will be intermittent trail closures. Residents can expect to see a small amount of white smoke rising from the mountain during the burn.

Employees with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conversation will be conducting the burn with the assistance of Tennessee State Parks, the Kingsport Fire Department and the Dobyns-Bennett High School prescribed burn team.

“Fire was a stewardship tool used on this landscape for thousands of years,” said Dobyns-Bennett High School Fire Management and Math teacher Bryan Kerns. “By putting fire back into the Bays Mountain management plan, we are honoring the wisdom of the past and creating a more resilient resource for future generations.”

According to TDEC, a prescribed fire is an important tool in forest health management. Prescribed fires help reduce the catastrophic damage of wildfire by safely reducing excessive brush, shrubs, and trees. They also encourage native vegetation to grow and are used to maintain the many plant and animal species whose habitats depend on periodic fire.

“We are making history with our first-ever prescribed burn at Bays Mountain Park,” said Park Manager Megan Krager. “Once we’ve done this burn, we’re going to evaluate its success and potentially plan for future burns at the park to ensure we’re being good stewards of this amazing asset of ours.”