The Ozark-St. Francis and Ouachita National forests will see their first prescribed burns of the year this week after a month of above-normal rain dampened wildfire threats across the state, officials said.

Under normal conditions the prescribed burning season starts in early January, said Jim Burton, fire team leader for the forests, which cover more than 3 million acres in Arkansas and Oklahoma. Prescribed burning will not start on national forest lands in Oklahoma until a burn ban is lifted there.

“The severe weather kept us from taking advantage of an early start to the season,” Burton said. “We were concerned we wouldn’t get back to a normal weather pattern.”

Last year was the seconddriest on record in Arkansas, and burn bans were in effect in most counties early last month.

By contrast, while the state is still in a severe drought, most parts of Arkansas have experienced above-normal rainfall so far this year. Parts of southeast Arkansas have seen up to 9 inches of rain, almost twice the normal amount for that region, said National Weather Service meteorologist John MacLeod.

Burton said that the drought may have created more fuel, but that shouldn’t increase the danger posed by controlled burns. The drought not only sapped moisture from brush, leaves and branches on the forest floor but also has even dried out larger logs that may not have posed a fire threat during prescribed burns in years past.

“We can knock ’em down, cover ’em up or move ’em outside the burn area,” Burton said. “The concern is normally these things don’t catch fire. We’ll have to be careful.”

Forest managers will first plan which tracts need burning, he said. Most are done close to populated areas to reduce the threat of wildfires, Burton said. The burns help eliminate potential fuel for wildfires, as well as spur new growth that benefits wildlife.

“The season should get in full swing by mid-February,” he added.

In a typical season between 50 and 60 prescribed burns occur, he said. Last year more than 126, 000 acres of national forest were burned, including 72, 000 on the Ouachita and 54, 000 in the Ozark-St. Francis forests.

The Ozark National Forest covers 1. 2 million acres, mostly in the Ozark mountains of northern Arkansas. The St. Francis National Forest covers 22, 600 acres in eastern Arkansas. The Ouachita National Forest covers 1. 8 million acres in central Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma.

Humidity, wind speed and direction, temperature and other conditions are considered before a prescribed burn, officials have said.

Don McBride, the assistant state forester for the Arkansas Forestry Commission, said the agency is also gearing up for prescribed burns. The commission bears responsibility for suppressing fires on private forestland in Arkansas.

“I don’t expect any problems,” Burton said. “I’m hoping we’ll get enough moisture.”

Glen Hooks, a spokesman for the Sierra Club, said the group’s concerns about controlled burns on national-forest land are the same as in the past few years, drought or no drought. He said the public needs more notice about the burns, which are announced the day of the burn.

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