ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, VA (Rocktown Now) — The USDA Forest Service is undertaking a spring prescribed burn today, Wednesday, April 9 on the North Zone in Rockingham, Virginia.

The burn will treat a total of 150 acres comprising 55 acres aligned on the eastern Flank and approximately 100 acres along the Hone Quarry Ridge Forest Service Road 539 and Forest Service (FS) Trail 435.

There will be potential smoke impacts to Hone Quarry Reservoir and campground, Briery Branch Reservoir Area, Virginia State Road 924, Coal Road residents, FS Trails 435, 435 A, 435B, and 430. For the public’s safety, please follow posted signs. Depending on the wind direction, residents and travelers in these areas may see or smell smoke.

Prescribed burns improve wildlife habitat by restoring open woodlands and grassland conditions on the forest landscape. Safety is the Forest Service’s top priority, and Forest Service fire managers will conduct a prescribed burn in the following area only under appropriate weather conditions.