“Prescribed fires” at Highlands National Park

You may see smoke rising from spots in Cape Breton Highlands National Park today, but it’s deliberate.

Parks Canada is calling them prescribed fires – experimental burns covering plots about 20 metres by 20 metres at Paquette Lake. They are burning the plots to gather information on the role and need of fires to maintain barren ecosystems.

The fires will go on for a couple of days and smoke may be visible from the Cabot Trail.