Bears, bucks to be hunted near South’s largest wildfire

Firefighter Luis Saez, right, watches as teammate Jose Martinez uses a drip torch to burn out underbrush and remove fuel for the fire while battling the Rough Ridge wildfire in the Cohutta Wilderness of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest on Friday, Nov. 18, 2016, near Chatsworth, Ga. The wildfire, which was started by lightning in mid-October, has burned in mostly wilderness areas. Firefighter Luis Saez, right, watches as teammate Jose Martinez uses a drip torch to burn out underbrush and remove fuel for the fire while battling the Rough Ridge wildfire in the Cohutta Wilderness of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest on Friday, Nov. 18, 2016, near Chatsworth, Ga. The wildfire, which was started by lightning in mid-October, has burned in mostly wilderness areas.

By Associated Press November 24, 2016 1 min read

ATLANTA – The U.S. Forest Service says a planned black bear and buck hunt in north Georgia will go on despite a nearby wildfire.

Officials say the hunt is set for Nov. 30 through Dec. 4 in the Cohutta Wildlife Management Area, and that some roads in the area will be closed because of the ongoing Rough Ridge fire – the largest of several active wildfires in the South.

The fire has burned through nearly 28,000 acres in the Cohutta Wildnerness Area near the Georgia-Tennessee border. Authorities say the blaze is 66 percent contained, and they project that it will be fully contained by Nov. 30.

Fire managers say the Rough Ridge blaze is among more than three-dozen large fires burning in the Southeast covering a total of more than 120,000 acres.