Expanding the use of prescribed fire has been suggested in Croatan National Forest. The forests in  Croatan have historically had natural, seasonal fires that contributed greatly to the ecosystem. Fires lead to complete nutrient recycling, increase species diversity, and promotes the sustainability of resources. It would open the understory to make room for larger animals such as black bears, turkeys, and white-tailed deer. Fire is also crucial to the reinstatement of long-leaf pines by controlling the populations of other pines and woody plants.

A main concern for introducing prescribed fire is the large amounts of smoke that would be released into the atmosphere and affect other parts of the forest. However, if less organic soil is burned, the amount of smoke would decrease dramatically. There is currently research involving ground-water levels to figure out how to make this possible.

It has been proposed to start prescribed fires during times of year when fires historically started. Another proposal has been to allow wildfires to start and simply control where they travel. Wildfires run a higher risk of spreading out of control than prescribed fires, however the risk of losing control is present in all types of fire.

Citation:

http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsm8_050457.pdf