The burns are used to restore and enhance scenic cultural landscapes and wildlife habitat, officials say. The practice is approved throughout the National Parks System.
The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area will conduct a series of controlled burns across 528 acres in New Jersey and Pennsylvania in the coming weeks.
The first burns could be scheduled as early as next week in New Jersey, where 294 acres in Sussex County will be targeted.
Burn sites in Pennsylvania will follow with targeted areas of 234 acres near River Road in Pike County.
Officials say roads may be closed in the areas during the burns. There are no specific dates for the scheduled burns given the task's reliance on favorable weather conditions such as wind speed, humidity and fuel moisture.
The burns are to restore and enhance scenic cultural landscapes and wildlife habitat, officials say. The practice is approved throughout the National Parks System.
At least six firefighters and one fire engine will be on-hand during the burns and further assistance may be provided from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry, New Jersey Forest Fire Service and the Nature Conservancy.
New Jersey State Forest Fire Service firefighter Jeffrey Scheuerer, 35, of Raritan Township, was killed during a controlled burn Thursday near Round Valley Reservoir in Clinton Township. A driver who authorities say might have been partially blinded by smoke from the burn hit Scheuerer on Lebanon-Stanton Road, also known as Route 629.