Why the forest department lit a fire
Answers
"This plain is mostly a forest of the great long-leaved pine the earth covered with grass, interspersed with an infinite variety of herbaceous plants, and embellished with extensive savriding through high open, pine forests, green lawns and flowery savannas in youthful verdure and gaity, having been lately burnt, but now overrun with aFor thousands of years, much of North Carolina burned every 1 to 10 years either at the hands of humans or from natural lightning ignitions. More than 10,000 years ago, Native Americans began burning southern forests and grasslands to drive game, improve grazing conditions for wildlife, clear land for farming, and improve their own safety from concealed attackers and from wildfires. European immigrants readily adopted the Indians' woodsburning practices to improve range for cattle, reduce the risk of wildfire, increase visibility of snakes and large predators, and improve access.
Figure 1. Early explorers observed open pine savannas like this green enamelled carpet …annas, always green