The Camp Lejeune Environmental Management Division has started lighting prescribed burns on forestry parts of the base and plans to do so for the next eight months.
The controlled burning is a tool used by forest managers both on- and off-base to help maintain open, clear habitats for endangered species and reduce the possibility of an uncontrolled wildfire occurring during the warmer months.
Kyle Avesing, a fire management specialist with Camp Lejeune’s Environmental Management Division, said the prescribed burns aboard Camp Lejeune are mostly beneficial to the base’s endangered species like the Venus fly trap, rough-leaf loosestrife plant and the red-cockaded woodpecker.
“We’re burning for (the endangered species), along with many other different reasons, but this is definitely a lot for the red-cockaded woodpecker,” Avesing said. “It keeps the forest open so it maintains the habitat that they prefer and encourages them to stay (on Camp Lejeune.)”
Avesing said residents both on- and off-base can expect to see smoke from the prescribed burns until August, with a short time period in April and May when the burns will stop because the risk of wildfire is greater.
From JDNews.com: https://www.jdnews.com/news/military/controlled-forest-burning-planned-for-next-eight-months-on-camp-lejeune-1.75860