The National Park Service will remove hazardous, storm-generated tree debris from six areas with elevated wildfire risk along Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina and Virginia. The project is the latest in a number of federal recovery efforts targeting Hurricane Helene damage across western North Carolina.
Hurricane damage and massive flooding from Helene in 2024 forced the temporary closure of the entire 469 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which links Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the south with Shenandoah National Park in the north. In some sections, the parkway needed to be completely rebuilt.
The project will aim to reduce wildfire danger while preserving the visual character of the parkway by removing burnable organic materials—often referred to as fuels—to protect public safety and natural resources. Scheduled to begin in late summer, the NPS will remove downed vegetation from just under 3,000 acres of park land in North Carolina and Virginia.
As work takes place in areas along the Parkway, park visitors and neighbors can expect intermittent traffic delays due to one-lane closures. The park aims to complete initial fuel removal work by spring 2027.
Once work begins, the park will use heavy equipment to reduce fuels and remove debris. The park will then target specific areas for revegetation to support forest restoration and natural ecosystem recovery. Parkway leadership, in coordination with Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Appalachian Piedmont Coastal Zone Fire Management staff, the U.S. Forest Service, the NPS Washington Support Office and consultants, has conducted fire risk modeling and field assessments to evaluate debris levels that could lead to unpredictable fire behavior.
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