WEST LEBANON — Outdoor burning is once again allowed with a permit in New Hampshire as of Wednesday, according to a news release from the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
Gov. Kelly Ayotte and the Executive Council voted to lift the ban Wednesday following recent rain. Vermont dropped its statewide ban earlier this week.
Both states implemented bans on all outdoor burning last month amid intense drought and fire risk.
In August and September, New Hampshire experienced a “ten-fold increase” in wildfire occurrence and acreage burned compared to the same months in 2024, according to the release.
Though the ban has been lifted, burn permits are still required for all outdoor burning in New Hampshire. They can be obtained from a local fire warden or via nhfirepermit.com.
“We’re not out of the woods yet, so to speak, in regard to New Hampshire’s drought conditions,” said Steven Sherman, chief of the N.H. Forest Protection Bureau.
“While the recent rain has helped make up for the deficit we’ve experienced this year, the increase in dried leaves and grasses on the ground that accumulate in the fall, combined with seasonal winds that accelerate drying them out, mean that there’s still existing wildfire risk.”
More than half of New Hampshire, including all of Grafton County and about half of Sullivan County, was still experiencing extreme drought as of last week, according to the most recent map from the U.S. Drought Monitor.