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Prescribed Burn

The Atlantic Coast Conservancy (ACC) conducted a controlled burn on the 85 acre Potts Mountain Burial Ground located on Steve Tate Highway in eastern Pickens County this past weekend. The commenced at approximately 0900 on Sunday morning (23MAR25) and was concluded by 1130.

Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GaDNR) calls prescribed fire “a safe way to apply a natural process, ensure ecosystem health and reduce wildfire risk on public and private lands”. Also called prescribed or controlled burning, these monitored events involve trained professionals who operate under a set of specific fuel and weather conditions called a “prescription”. Wind direction determines where smoke will go and atmospheric stability helps predict how well smoke will rise and clear the area. Following a prescription provides an opportunity to manage the smoke responsibly.

Prescribed fire is carefully planned and implemented to be as safe as possible. The Potts Mountain controlled burn was supervised by Certified SAF Forester John Stivers, whose company Tanyard Timber, provides landowners with forestry consulting services including prescribed burning, reforestation, and timber sales. Stivers serves as the President of the Central Alabama Prescribed Burn Association (CAPBA) and is registered to work in both Alabama and Georgia.

The ACC Staff, under the tutelage of Stivers, ran interior strips across the upland tract after blacking-in the perimeter. Stivers remarked, “These guys did really well, built great fire lines with dozer sweeping roads/trails and pushed new line on north and south end through some pine thickets, prepped around lots of snags, ate some smoke and walked the torches to advance the fire across the burn unit rapidly to get the smoke up in the air and sent it downwind all before noon.”

In keeping with the mission of the ACC “to provide 21st century solutions and sound scientific applications for conservation of critical natural resources in the face of a changing climate focusing on the Southeastern United States with specific utilization of geographic information systems applications in land conservation, ecosystem services, carbon sequestration and conservation biology”, the prescribed burn on a portion of the 1,400 acre Potts Mountain Biological Field Station property helps support the organization’s conservation objectives.

Prescribed fire is used for a number of reasons including ecosystem restoration and maintenance, reducing wildfire risk, site preparation for tree planting, and enhancing the
aesthetics of and access to natural areas. Many plants and animals depend on fire. In fact, rare wildlife including gopher tortoises and red-cockaded woodpeckers depend on fire-adapted habitats. Studies show that the long-term use of prescribed fire can reduce tick populations along with tick-carried diseases that affect people.

Early American settlers found Native Americans using fire in virgin pine stands and adopted the practice to provide better access, improve hunting, and to remove brush and timber for
farming. Land managers have used fire since the early 1900s.

Without fire, trees and brush grow too thick, shading out plants on the forest floor and limiting which animals and plants can thrive there. Prescribed fire also consumes downed limbs, dead trees and

Join Us for Green Drinks

Join the Atlantic Coast Conservancy on the 4th Thursday of each month for Green Drinks - an international grass-roots effort to spread the word about environmental issues. 

Thursday, September 26th, 2019
6:30 pm
Join us for an entertaining, informative gathering focused on the environment. This month join us for a great showcase of the local Chimney Swift population! These birds perform nightly here on Main Street and we'd love for you to see their aerial feats!

A Look at Our Latest Project

Doris Wigington Jasper City Park opened to the public on June 28, 2014. Since then the 60 acre property has been little used as a park. In fact, the 3.5 miles of trails with entrances on Gennette Drive and Lumber Company Road had become known as a hot spot for unsavory activity.

In 2018 Atlantic Coast Conservancy’s Robert Keller proposed adding features to the park to attract birds and birdwatchers, walkers and hikers, and the families, all while discouraging unwanted activities. One such project is the construction of Chimney Swift Towers.

Chimney Swifts are cigar shaped birds which spend summers in North Georgia. Their acrobatics may remind people of swallows, but Chimney Swifts are more closely related to Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. They have adapted to a life among humans, finding a home in chimneys after their preferred old-growth trees began disappearing.

The conservation status of the Chimney Swift was recently updated to Vulnerable on the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Stating that ““In recent times, the number of available chimneys has decreased as a result of the demolition of old buildings, the capping of old chimneys, and through chimney sweeps removing nests from chimneys (despite the species being protected by federal law). Even though a scarcity of chimneys may not be limiting the numbers of Chimney Swifts yet, the rate of habitat loss is increasing and possibly developing into a severe threat.”

The ACC is supporting  conservation by building Chimney Swift Towers in Doris Wigington Park. Chimney Swift Towers mimic actual chimneys, serving as roosting and nesting habitat for the birds. Much like a real chimney, the central tower and interior walls provide nesting and roosting opportunities for these birds. Specially adapted claws allow the Chimney Swifts to cling to the inside of the tower, where they build saucer-shaped nests made out of twigs glued together with the birds’ saliva. Chimney Swifts will not allow other birds (including other swifts) to use “their” tower while they are nesting, but in late summer, hundreds or event thousands of individual birds may roost in one large chimney creating a spectacular site overhead as they flock into the chimney near dusk.