The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs’ Forestry Department has begun its spring prescribed burns to reduce the risk of wildfire at Fort Indiantown Gap, Lebanon County.

Weather permitting, the burns will be held between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

A prescribed burn is a commonly used forestry management technique that reduces the amount of combustible material naturally existing in the wilderness. It is performed only when conditions such as humidity, wind and temperature are ideal for managing fires. Prescribed burns are not conducted unless all required weather conditions are met.

“Prescribed burns help reduce the potential of major wildfires on Fort Indiantown Gap property,” said DMVA Forest Program Manager Shannon Henry. “They are always conducted by properly trained personnel with an approved plan and coordinated with the appropriate authorities.”

Prescribed burns will be conducted on approximately 2,500 acres at Fort Indiantown Gap through May. 

Fort Indiantown Gap, headquarters to the DMVA and Pennsylvania National Guard, offers more than 17,000 acres and 140 training areas and facilities for year-round training.

It balances one of the region’s most ecologically diverse areas with a military mission that annually supports 19,000 Pennsylvania National Guard personnel and more than 130,000 other states’ Guard, military, law enforcement, and civilian personnel each year. It is the only live-fire, maneuver military training facility in Pennsylvania.

For more information, visit the Fort Indiantown Gap website. 

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4/28/2014