Sometime between now and Nov. 20, the Pennsylvania Game Commission plans to burn 190 acres of state game land forest in West Penn Township.

A definite date has yet to be chosen. The time depends on weather and other conditions, including the amount of moisture in the ground and in vegetation.The public will be notified of the burn window status through the Game Commission website at

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/habitat_management/19107#PrescribedFire.The prescribed burn, called the Baer Rocks burn, will be in two adjoining plots near the Carbon County border. One plot is 52 acres and the other is 138 acres. Both are in state games lands 217, a 7,647-acre tract that stretches through northern Lehigh, southern Carbon and southern Schuylkill counties.The areas are forested with mature oak trees, mostly chestnut oak. In the early 1900s, forest fires were common in the area, and the frequent burns led to the proliferation of oaks, according to the Game Commission.The goal of the prescribed fire is to re-create the conditions that led to the establishment of this aging oak forest. Currently there are a large number of sassafras, black gum and red maple trees growing under the oak canopy. These small trees are casting dense shade on the forest floor. A prescribed fire has the potential to remove a large number of these trees.The oaks are important to wildlife because they produce acorns, which are nutritious and support the winter food needs of a wide variety of birds and mammals.But oak seedlings vie with tulip poplar, birch and maple trees, which are far less important to wildlife. If the oaks are choked out by other species, there will be less food for wildlife, and the species composition of the forest changes.Oaks will survive the prescribed burn because their roots go much deeper than those of other trees. The oaks will be able to grow faster and stronger because once the other trees are gone, they will have more sunlight and nutrients.The prescribed burn will be overseen by a "burn boss."The burn is carefully controlled. First, a "fire break" is created around the entire area by removing all leaves and branches. The then-bare ring keeps the prescribed burn from spreading.On the day of the burn, only those involved with it will be allowed into the area. Trained Game Commission staff will be on hand with the tools and water sources, and local fire companies will have been alerted.Before the burn is started, staff will do a small test burn so the burn boss can check how the fire behaves and how the smoke wafts. If he's satisfied with the results, the prescribed burn begins.The burn area may smolder afterward, but the area will be closely monitored. The burned areas almost immediately attract game, according to the game commission."We often see deer and turkeys coming in to fresh burns, even before the smoke clears," said John Wakefield, a burn boss and fire logistics chief with the Pennsylvania Game Commission. "I think it's partly because the fire removes leaves and brush, making it easier to feed on acorns and insects."