De Soto Forest Will See Fires

By J.R. Welsh, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.

Jan. 28–GULFPORT — If you loaded up all the salvage timber sold by De Soto National Forest since Hurricane Katrina, it would equal a line of loaded log trucks stretching from Wiggins to Atlanta.

With that 1.2 million tons of wood already cut and carted off, the forest still has excess wood waste that could fuel devastating wildfires. Because of that, controlled fires on parts of the 380,000-acre De Soto National Forest will continue through this winter.

The idea is to eliminate “fine fuels” — dead grass, fine pieces of wood and leaves — that pose a danger. After that, rangers say, they will tackle the “heavy fuels,” or larger pieces of hurricane-wasted trees still left in the forest.

The controlled fires are carefully planned and can involve from a few hundred acres to several thousand, said Owen Martin, deputy district ranger for the De Soto Ranger District in Wiggins.

“We break those areas into chunks that we can logically handle,” he said.

Fires will not be located close to major highways, although motorists on U.S. 49 between Gulfport and Hattiesburg may occasionally see plumes of smoke in the distance.

“We will place signs along the roadways when we are burning,” Martin said.

To date, more than 15,000 acres has already been burned in the national forest.

The national forest land includes parts of Harrison, Hancock, Forrest, George, Greene, Jackson, Pearl River, Perry and Stone counties. Motorists who think they spot an uncontrolled fire in those areas should call 911 or the Mississippi Forestry Commission at 1-800-240-5161. The Wiggins Ranger District can be reached at (601) 928-5858.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Sun Herald, Biloxi, Miss.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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