Kingsport holds first prescribed burn at Bays Mountain

By MATTHEW LANE 

Kingsport Communications Specialist 

Bays Mountain Park completed its very first prescribed burn on April 9. 

The burn covered roughly seven acres of land near the peak of the mountain (where the radio towers are located) and was planned as a proactive measure to help reduce the catastrophic damage of wildfire by safely reducing excessive brush and leaf debris. 

Thank you to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Tennessee State Parks, Kingsport Fire Department, and the Dobyns-Bennett Pulaski Club students for allowing everything to run smoothly. We also appreciate the team at Central Dispatch with Kingsport Police Department for fielding calls from concerned citizens regarding the burn. 

What burnt? The top layers of leaves on the ground, the tree canopies of the blowdowns from Helene. The burn was low flames, slow moving across the leaves. A few bigger trees charred near the base. Everything did not burn. Due to the low and slow flames, larger rotten trees on the ground and larger branches did not completely burn. 

Over the next few days, Bays Mountain Park staff and volunteers kept watch over smoldering areas. The burnt area will smell smokey or charred for the next few weeks. We are very thankful for the rain. We look forward to seeing how this burn will help to revitalize the land in the future. 

"Fire was a stewardship tool used on this landscape for thousands of years,” said Dobyns-Bennett High School Fire Management and Math teacher Bryan Kerns. “By putting fire back into the Bays Mountain management plan, we are honoring the wisdom of the past and creating a more resilient resource for future generations." 

According to TDEC, a prescribed fire is an important tool in forest health management. Prescribed fires help reduce the catastrophic damage of wildfire by safely reducing excessive brush, shrubs, and trees. They also encourage native vegetation to grow and are used to maintain the many plant and animal species whose habitats depend on periodic fire. 

“We are making history with our first-ever prescribed burn at Bays Mountain Park,” said Park Manager Megan Krager. “Once we’ve done this burn, we’re going to evaluate its success and potentially plan for future burns at the park to ensure we’re being good stewards of this amazing asset of ours.”