1. Notice of Scoping for Prescribed Burns

Project Title: Pachaug State Forest Prescribed Burn

Municipalies where proposed project might be located: Voluntown, Griswold

Addresses of Possible Project Locations: Pachaug State Forest, Stone Hill Block, Compartments 8,9, and 12, located east, west and north of Lawrence Road.

Project Description: The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is planning multiple burns over three years, up to 346 acres.  Leaf litter, grasses, huckleberries, logging slash, and other down wood will be burned.  Repeated drought, gypsy moths and chestnut borers have killed over 90% of the oaks.  Many trees have already been cut for public safety.  Though much of the wood has been harvested, the remaining tree tops increase the risk of intense wildfires. 

DEEP's goals are to reduce the down wood and to regenerate young oak and pine forests.  Oak forests cannot sustain themselves under current natural conditions, as seedlings cannot tolerate shade. Historically, they thrived after Native American burns, abandonment of land, clearcuts, and the chestnut blight.  In the absence of these factors, the less ecologically valuable birch, beech, and maple crowd out the oaks.  In time, oak forests will greatly diminish from the area without prescribed burns, which is referred to as an impending ecological crisis. 

The burns will also weaken or kill shrubs and birch, beech and maple saplings in the understory, and create a better seedbed for acorns and stimulate existing oak seedlings.  More sunlight will reach those seedlings. 

DEEP expects to burn 36 acres in 2019, and more in the following years.  Some areas may require more than a single burn.  The timeframes are February to mid-May, and end of May to the end of November.  Nearby trails will be closed only on the days of the burns, smoke will clear within a few hours.  

Project Map(s):  Pachaug State Forest Prescribed Burn Map

Written comments from the public are welcomed and will be accepted until the close of business on:  January 17, 2019.

Any person can ask the sponsoring agency to hold a Public Scoping Meeting by sending such a request to the address below.  If a meeting is requested by 25 or more individuals, or by an association that represents 25 or more members, the sponsoring agency shall schedule a Public Scoping Meeting.  Such requests must be made by Friday, December 28, 2018. 

Written comments and/or requests for a Public Scoping Meeting should be sent to

If you have questions about the public meeting, or other questions about the scoping for this project, contact: