PLANNED FOREST FIRE CONSUMES 800 ACRES IN SHAWNEE FOREST

MAP -- CONTROLLED BURN

JONESBORO, Ill. -- More than 800 acres in Shawnee National Forest burned near here Tuesday.

Motorists traveling routes between here and Reynoldsville may have observed smoke emerging from the Atwood Ridge Research Natural Area, from 10 to dark.

It was planned, wildlife biologist Ray Smith said.

The U.S. Forest Service designed the "prescribed burn" in cooperation with the Illinois Department of Conservation, and with input from various environmental groups.

Fire is a natural part of the ecosystem.

What the Forest Service is trying to do in the Atwood area is "to control moisture-loving species of plants like maples, sassafras and persimmon," Smith said.

The prescribed burn is expected to invigorate the hill prairie vegetation, legumes and grasses and allow for these species to spread through the more open woods again. While it will undoubtedly kill some trees, it will open what is described as the canopy of the forest, Smith said.

"This will encourage the regeneration of the rock chestnut oak," he said. "The rock chestnut is one of my favorite trees, It's fire tolerant, very thick and has a corky bark to protect it."

Smith described the way the prescribed fire works.

"The fire was not a big one," he said. "It usually burns low on the floor area of the forest, and we always leave one side of the area being burned open for the benefit of animals."

The fires are constantly monitored, Smith added. Some 65 people keep an eye on things and there are soil traps to check any soil movement.

The Tuesday fires were set from 10 throughout the day.

Smith said special lighting devices were used to set fires around the three borders of the 800-acre Atwood Ridge site.

"We finished the lighting process Tuesday afternoon," he said. "But, the fire may burn all night."

The prescribed burn wasn't planned overnight, however.

The Forest Service has been preparing for this burn for more than two years. Surveys have been made to check on tree growth and the many insects and animals that inhabit the area.

In addition, the Forest Service had to wait for "just the right" day. It needed a certain temperature, the right humidity and the right amount of wind.

"We were ready to come in Monday, but the conditions were not right," Smith said.

If the humidity was too high, the area wouldn't get a good burn, Smith said. Low humidity would mean the fire would be difficult to control. High winds also would be a problem.

The last time a fire was reported in the Atwood Ridge area was in the 1930s, prior to Forest Service ownership, and the wildfires destroyed many trees.

At that time, the bluff-top area was rather open. Fifty years later, the canopy of the forest had closed in, and many of the treeless areas weren't evident. As the canopy closed in, the species composition changed.

Many plants started disappearing, and with them, animals dependent on the plants disappeared too.

The prescribed burn is expected to enhance the new growth of prairie vegetation and will allow these species to spread through the more open woods again.

One of the reptiles found in the area is the timber rattlesnake.

The timber rattler was placed on the state's "threatened list" only recently, Smith said. Turkey, deer, snails and other wildlife inhabit the area.

"You may observe that we're not burning in one section of the area," he said. "A bald eagle's nest was observed in that area and we don't want to do anything to scare the eagle."

The prescribed burn is the first in the area in more than a decade.