Stimulus funds to be used for fire prevention in Croatan forest

No homes or structures were threatened by the recent wildfire in the Croatan National Forest but District Ranger Lee Thornhill knows that’s a risk where the forest meets residential and commercial areas in surrounding communities.

Reducing that risk will be the focus of one of the projects to be implemented within the Croatan using recently awarded federal stimulus funds.

Just over the border from Carteret to Craven County, in the area of the Havelock movie theater, work will be done to create a 300-foot permanent fuel break where the forest borders the city.

All the trees will be taken out in the area of the first 100 feet, leaving grass and shrubs. Trees will be thinned over the remaining 200 feet so that no tree is touching another.

“It will reduce the risk of a catastrophic wildfire moving from the forest into the city,” Thornhill said.

National forests in North Carolina have received approximately $15 million to fund American Recovery and Reinvestment Act projects.

Of the 19 projects, Croatan National Forest will benefit from six of them. The Croatan National Forest covers areas of Craven, Carteret and Jones counties.

Nearly $5 million is for trail and bridge maintenance at multiple sites, including Carteret County, to improve public safety and repair resource damage. Funds for the Pine Cliff picnic shelter in the Croatan is among another $734,000 in allocated funds.

Thornhill said the shelter was damaged during a hurricane and will be rebuilt to resemble the previous shelter.

Croatan and the Uwharrie National Forest received $200,000 for campground and picnic area repairs. This project will address a backlog of maintenance activities at recreation areas.

“We’ve got a list of maintenance projects that have been needed to be done for a long time and that’s what we’re doing (with this funding),” Thornhill said.

Other items include $525,000 to replace the Flanners Beach wastewater treatment plant in Craven County and $492,000 for prescribed burning in Carteret and Craven counties.

Approximately 9,000 acres of the forest will be treated with prescribed fire over two years to help restore and maintain Longleaf Pine savannahs and maintain optimal habitat for red cockaded woodpeckers and rough leaf loosestrife, both federally listed species, forest service officials said.

Equally important, Thornhill said, is the benefit to the surrounding communities.

Nearly all of the work for the ARRA project in the North Carolina’s national forests will be accomplished through contracts, creating jobs and stimulating the economy, he said.