policy of fire exclusion and, 

 along with many landown- 

 ers, adopted prescribed 

 burning programs. In the 

 mid-1 970's, for example, 

 controlled burning was 

 carried out on more than 2 

 million acres annually on 

 industrial, public, and other 

 ownerships in the South 

 (Johansen and McNab 

 1982) 



Today, prescribed burning 

 is recognized as an essen- 

 tial, relatively inexpensive, 

 and effective tool of man- 

 agement in the pine forests 

 of the South, with benefits 

 including fire-hazard reduc- 

 tion, site preparation for 

 forest regeneration, control 

 of undesirable vegetation, 

 and improvement of habitat 

 for wildlife and livestock. 

 Nevertheless, members of 

 the public and environmen- 

 tal groups express consider- 

 able concern that smoke 

 from woods fires contributes 

 seriously to air pollution. 

 Public pressure and legisla- 

 tion threaten to curtail or 

 eliminate intentional woods 

 burning, particularly near 

 highways, airports, and 

 population centers. 



Research conducted in 

 response to such concerns 



has indicated that smoke 

 from prescribed woods 

 burning does not produce 

 highly damaging sulfur 

 oxides, and nitrogen oxides 

 are produced only with 

 high fire temperatures 

 (Cooper 1973). Also, by 

 reducing the incidence of 

 wildfires, total emissions 

 from forest burning may be 

 reduced. 



Scientists at the fire labora- 

 tory in Macon, GA, have 

 identified ways to minimize 

 smoke impacts from pre- 

 scribed burning and have 

 issued recommendations 

 for actions to ensure that 

 smoke does not reach 

 sensitive areas (Southern 

 Forest Fire Laboratory 

 1976). Prescriptions, based 

 on indepth treatment of 

 smoke, fuels, emissions, 

 smoke transport, and dis- 

 persion, outline a system 

 for predicting and modifying 

 smoke concentrations from 

 prescribed fire. As an aid in 

 starting prescribed burns 

 when conditions are most 

 favorable, methods have 

 also been developed for 

 dropping jellied fuels of 

 potassium permanganate 

 from aircraft. 



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