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• FDR State Park

Another

A while back we of the PMTA board were given advance notice of another controlled burn to take place likely in February of this year starting west of the burn of 2009 burn. That 2009 burn burned along both side of the PMT from near trail Mile 8.6 to 10.8 including the area around Beech Bottom Campsite and the Big Poplar.

On February 17, 2010 the DNR did the burn from a line west from the access road near road Mile 5 on Ga. 190  (down to near Beech Bottom Campsite) and  west of there all the way to Ga. 354 (except a small area on the NW corner of the park not being burned.) Thus the burn was along both sides of the Pine Mountain Trail from about trail Mile 8.6 west to  Mile 6.4 and .7 of a mile of the Pool Trail (2.9 miles of trail.)

Back on Saturday February 6th, some 35 volunteers hand raked a fire line around Jenkins Springs and Big Knot Campsites that the DNR stated they would honor and keep the burn away from these sites by back-burning from them quite a ways. The DNR however would not consider a fire break to keep the burn away from the trails. The burn was to be started mainly using a DNR helicopter dropping ping-pong ball size plastic “bomblets” filled with magnesium powder injected with antifreeze (that makes a chemical reaction fire within 20 seconds or so after being ejected from the helicopter.)

The burn on February 17th started with burn team members back-burning safely away from Big Knot and Jenkins Springs Campsites.  When the burns from the camps were under control, the helicopter starting making runs near noon time that day.

After the burn on February 18th, Sam Burke and Jim Hall hiked the route through the burn and found that some areas along the trails were not burned as bad as the 2009 burn. However they found that both Big Knot and Jenkins Springs campsites had been burn up to the tent site areas within the camp. Until around 2:30 pm the day of the burn the camps were safe and unburned. A mid-afternoon run by the DNR helicopter “bombed” the two campsites and some 60-70% of them show signs of being burned well within the surrounding firebreak in most places.  Are the camps open?  Yes, but it is suggested until further notice not to use them as burned leaves and such are in the campsite proper where most tents would have been placed.

NOTE: If you do hike or backpack along the burned route be aware that you may find/see one of the round ping-pong ball size “bomblets.” While not dangerous to handle without the antifreeze in them, it is suggested you leave them alone if you see one. Just report the location to the FDR Park Office.

It is suggested that if you want to do a long hike or backpack trip soon along the PMT you avoid the middle section (burned) and take the Sawtooth Trail near Mile 6 over to the PMT near MollyHugger Hill (Trail Mile 11.2)

If you have any questions as to how to do this, call Jim Hall of the PMTA at 706-569-0497 or email him through the Contact Us page. If you have hiked previous burned sections or have a comment about the upcoming burn, please contact the PMTA and the Georgia DNR links below:

• Ronnie Eakins - Region 3 DNR Parks manager
• Don McGhee - FDR State Park manager
• Chuck Gregory - DNR Resource Mgr (approved the burn)
• Becky Kelley - DNR Parks Director