The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office will have a series of controlled burns of grassland areas on parts of the Oak Ridge Reservation during February, March, and April.
The prescribed burning at the East Tennessee Technology Park and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory was scheduled to start this week.
Weather permitting, the controlled burns are scheduled to take place on:
- Upper First Creek Bottoms at ORNL—approximately 1.5 acres
- ORNL East Campus Native Grass Planting—approximately 7.1 acres
- Solway Bend Fields—approximately 42 acres in eight adjoining plots
- Freels Bend Fields—approximately 100 acres in three adjoining plots
- Gallaher Bend Kudzu Infestation—approximately 57 acres in two adjoining plots
- Dyllis Orchard Road Field—approximately 12 acres
- Wheat Church Vista east of ETTP—approximately 5.5 acres
The planned burns are part of an effort by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and ORNL to restore native plant communities and ecosystems, improve wildlife habitat, and reduce the risk of wildfires. They are conducted and overseen by the Tennessee Division of Forestry, which maintains fire control equipment, certified burn managers, the ORNL forester, and trained personnel at the burn area with the support of on-site TWRA personnel.
For additional information, contact the DOE-ORO Public Affairs Division at (865) 576-0885.
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