RALEIGH, N.C. (WLOS) -- Smoke in the distance in the Western North Carolina mountains is usually a sign of fire, but according to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, it might not be cause for alarm.
In a March 17 news release, the Commission sent out an advisory that if anyone sees smoke on game lands in WNC, there is a way to check whether or not it's a prescribed burn - the Commission's Prescribed Burns Dashboard.
The dashboard, available at the Wildlife Resources Commission's website, shows all the prescribed burns in North Carolina for the year.
"Most of the prescribed burning on game lands occurs between January and March because the cool, humid air with minimal wind provides conditions for low intensity fires," said NCWRC Forestry Program Leader Casey Phillips in the release. "However, we will still conduct burns well into spring and summer because growing season fires provide for better control of young hardwoods in certain habitats."
According to the release, a prescribed burn is an intentional burning of vegetation and one of the most beneficial and cost-effective methods of managing habitat for wildlife.
The Commission conducts about 200 to 300 prescribed burns across 20,000 to 30,000 acres each year to restore and maintain wildlife habitat on most of the two-million acres of state game lands used by hunters, anglers and wildlife watchers throughout North Carolina, the release said.
Prescribed burns reduce the use of hazardous fuels and improve biodiversity at a significantly larger scale than relying solely on chemical or mechanical methods, the Commission said. Mowing and spraying can be effective tools for wildlife habitat improvements but are much more expensive.
Many of North Carolina's habitat-sensitive or rare species, like the red-cockaded woodpecker and Venus flytraps, are adapted to fire or found only in fire-dependent habitat. The Commission's staff typically conduct maintenance burns in multi-year cycles to open groundcover for quail, grassland birds, deer and turkeys.
The Commission said in the release that burning encourages production of native grasses and herbaceous vegetation, which provides valuable food and cover for a wide variety of wildlife species. Prescribed burns are also used to help reduce high levels of forest fuels (such as leaf litter and pine straw) that can cause deadly wildfires.
For more information on the Commission's game lands program, including an interactive game land map, visit NCwildlife.gov/gamelands.