Officials Starting Forest Fires in New York State on Purpose

You may start seeing some forest fires in New York State on DEC owned land now through May this year.

Why is New York State going to be starting fires?

They are going to start land on their DEC owned land and it is actually great for 2 major reasons.

• First, it reduces the risk of major forest fires. By doing a controlled burn like New York State is going to do, it gets rid of unwanted brush or dead sticks and leaves that might be on the forest floor that would otherwise accelerate a major fire.
• Secondly, burning everything that covers the forest floor allows the sticks and leaves and brush to burn and make way for new life to grow.

According to the New York State website:

Prescribed fires are an important tool to keep New York State lands thriving and reduce fire risk,” said Acting Commissioner Lefton. “In addition to removing wood and timber litter that fuels wildfires and threatens public safety and structures, prescribed burning helps DEC achieve specific ecological goals, including eliminating invasive species and ensuring growth of fire-dependent ecosystems".

Expects these burns to be happening across New York State now, all the way through may. You can see the full schedule that they put together per region right here on the website.

Is there a burn ban happening in New York State?

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation puts a ban every year on people having brush fires on their personal property. The burning of brush is prohibited from March 16 through May 14 due to the increased risk of wildfires. Did you know that there is also a limitation on bon fires that New York State puts together. As you can imagine some people get mad about the limitation, but there is no word how strictly enforced it is by local police departments.