HARRISON, Ark. – The National Park Service will conduct prescribed fire operations in the Buffalo Point area of Buffalo National River between November 2025 and early spring 2026, depending on weather and on-the-ground conditions.
The Buffalo Point Prescribed Fire Complex includes three burn units: Buffalo Point Maintenance (701 acres), Lower Buffalo District Historic CCC Cabins (311 acres), and Mull (476 acres).
These burns are part of an ongoing fire management program aimed at reducing hazardous fuels, creating defensible space around infrastructure, and lowering the risk of uncontrolled wildfire.
“Fire is a natural process that has shaped the Ozark landscape for thousands of years,” said Fenn Wimberly, National Park Service Fire Management Officer. “By using prescribed fire in a carefully planned and controlled way, we can reduce wildfire risk, protect nearby communities, and maintain healthy fire-adapted ecosystems.”
The Buffalo Point area in Marion County includes a mix of Civilian Conservation Corps-era stone buildings, modern National Park Service facilities, and visitor infrastructure. The prescribed fires will help protect cultural resources such as historic cabins, the lodge, and pavilions, along with campground loops, trails, and utility corridors.
The project also enhances protection for nearby communities like Mull, Arkansas, and for transportation routes along State Highways 268 and 14. These corridors serve as key access routes for residents, emergency responders, and park visitors. Lowering fuel loads along them helps maintain clear evacuation routes, improves visibility, and reduces the likelihood of roadside fires.
Starting Nov. 17, 2025, the Buffalo Point Campground will offer primitive camping only to limit visitor impacts during prescribed fire operations. Some trails and short road sections may temporarily close during active burning for public safety.
Prescribed fire plays a vital role in maintaining fire-adapted ecosystems such as oak-hickory woodlands and rocky glades, which rely on periodic, low-intensity fire to remain healthy. The practice also helps preserve the Civilian Conservation Corps-designed cultural landscape of the 1930s and 1940s while improving habitat for native plants and wildlife.
Park fire managers will work to reduce smoke impacts to nearby communities, though residents and visitors may see or smell smoke during operations.
The National Park Service partners with the Arkansas Forestry Division, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, The Nature Conservancy, USDA Forest Service, and local emergency agencies to ensure public and firefighter safety.
For more information about prescribed fire and the Buffalo National River Fire Management Program, visit www.nps.gov/buff/learn/nature/wildland-fire.htm.
This article was originally published on ArkansasOutside.com, your trusted source for outdoor news and updates in The Natural State. Unless otherwise credited, all photos included in this piece are the property of Arkansas Outside, LLC. We take pride in sharing the beauty and adventures of Arkansas through our lens—thank you for supporting our work!
