The N.C. Forest Service conducted a control burn on 35 acres in Mill Spring on Thursday, Dec. 19.
Polk forest service agent Brian Rogers said the burn was done on Herman and Virginia Walker’s property off Walker Road in Mill Spring.
The forest service plans to burn between 1,000 and 1,500 acres in Polk County this season.
Control burns are done to clean out undergrowth and to put nutrients back into the soil, to improve wildlife habitat and to reduce the risk of wildfires, Rogers said. Most of the control burning the forest service does is on private land. The season of control burning begins in November and ends in March/April. The season is during times when trees are dormant for the year.
Rogers said so far this year the forest service has burned approximately 100 acres in Polk County.
Thursday’s burn was done with seven forest service agents along with two Mill Spring Fire Department firefighters as a training exercise.
Anyone wanting the forest service to do a control burn on their property can contact Rogers at 828-894-8020 or by email at brian.rogers@nc.agr.gov.