OAK RIDGE, TN - The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Oak Ridge Office (ORO) is initiating a series of controlled burns of grassland areas on the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation for prescribed burning on the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) Three Bend Area off Pump House and Bull Bluff Roads.

Controlled burns on the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation. Image courtesy of DOE

Beginning this week and continuing through April 2018, weather permitting, controlled burns will take place:

• Freels Bend fields – up to approximately 284 acres of grassland and scrub
• Gallaher Bend fields - up to approximately 125 acres of grassland and kudzu
• Solway Bend fields – up to approximately 62 acres of grassland

These planned burns are part of the TWRA and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory's effort to provide wildlife habitat, encourage growth of native plants, and reduce the risk of wildfires. They are conducted and overseen by the State of Tennessee Division of Forestry with support from TWRA personnel who maintain fire control equipment, certified burn managers, and trained personnel at the burn area. Smoke may be observed in the Oak Ridge vicinity of Clark Center Park or south of the Oak Ridge Institute of Science and Education (ORISE) campus during the burns.