A team of rangers from the Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC) will conduct a controlled burn in the coming weeks on the campus of the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography.

The planned burn will remove underbrush and loose wood debris on approximately 100 acres of the wooded section of the campus on the north end of Skidaway Island. This is the same section of the campus where GFC crews thinned the forest last summer. The burn area will extend from the edge of the developed section of the campus — south on both sides of McWhorter Road for approximately one and a half miles.

GFC rangers expect to complete the burn in one day, although the exact date of the project is dependent on the weather, including wind and humidity. The rangers want to burn on a day when the prevailing wind will carry the smoke southeasterly across Wassaw Sound and out over the Atlantic Ocean — minimizing the effect of smoke on residents of The Landings and Modena subdivisions.

“We don’t expect much, if any, advance notice,” said Chuck Hartman, Skidaway Institute plant superintendent. “Once they see the right weather conditions, they will come out here and get the project going.”

GFC officials do not expect the burn will have any effect on activities on the Skidaway Institute campus or traffic flow on McWhorter Road.

For additional information, contact Chuck Hartman at (912) 598-2442 or chuck.hartman@skio.usg.edu.