Five pine barrens forests set to undergo controlled burns this spring to combat wildfires

Controlled fires could start in the coming days in five state forests in the Long Island pine barrens from Rocky Point to Westhampton, state environmental officials said.

During a burn season that will last through early May, Department of Environmental Conservation forest rangers and wilderness firefighters hope to clear as much as 500 acres in the five state-managed forests. Controlled or prescribed fires have been used on Long Island since the 1995 Sunrise Fire near Westhampton to improve habitat and remove timber litter that fuels wildfires.

This year’s burn season, which also affects forests in eight regions statewide, comes weeks after a wildfire consumed 400 acres of woodland in eastern Suffolk County.

The targeted forests are Otis Pike, Ridge, Rocky Point, David A. Sarnoff and Dwarf Pine, all in Suffolk’s pine barrens.

"This is a fire-adapted ecosystem,” said Stony Brook-based DEC ranger Bryan Gallagher, a specially trained "burn boss” who helps plan and supervise the work. Some of the pines that give the region its name carry bark as thick as three inches. Some employ resin-sealed cones that only release seeds when a fire’s heat melts the resin.

On Long Island, Gallagher said, the fires serve several purposes. They prevent forest from encroaching on native grasslands in areas like Otis Pike and Rocky Point. They thin some of the densest pine and oak forest, making it hard for pests like the Southern Pine Beetle to spread tree to tree. They remove hazardous fuel that can build up as much as six inches or more on the forest floor, reducing the risk of uncontrolled fires that could threaten nearby neighborhoods.

As many as 100 foresters will work in teams as small as nine for grassland and up to 20 for woodland fires, he said. Their preparation includes cutting or mowing firebreaks to contain fire after ignition. Wildland fire engines will also be on scene.

Grassland fires move fast and a prescribed burn can cover many acres at a time. Woodland fires are typically smaller, 5 to 20 acres. They burn hotter and mopping up — ensuring there are no hot spots or smoking areas — can take hours. "Most burns on the woodlands we keep small because we’re close to communities,” Gallagher said.

The fire schedule is weather-dependent, Gallagher said. Grassland will burn a day after rain, but a forest can take up to four days to dry. Foresters won’t burn if winds would blow smoke directly into nearby neighborhoods. The burns also take into account threatened or endangered species like tiger salamanders and the northern long-eared bat. Because the bat gets sluggish in the cold, the foresters will not burn woodlands on days when the temperature is under 50 degrees. And, because most of the foresters work Monday-Friday, most burns will happen on weekdays.

Foresters will use a Suffolk County Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services robocall system to alert Long Islanders of a burn in their area.

Nina Leonhardt, acting executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, the nonprofit dedicated to promoting the preservation of the Long Island Central pine barrens as open space, said at burn sites, "it might take 10 years to see something like a tree, but new growth starts almost immediately. All those areas that burned years ago, you wouldn’t know it as you drive down Sunrise Highway.”