Covington County deputies will soon begin patrolling more in the Conecuh National Forest, Sheriff Blake Turman said.

As in the past, the U.S. Forest Service and the Covington County Sheriff’s Department have a cooperative agreement in which the Forest Service will reimburse the county for assistance, District Ranger Tim Mersmann said.

“Since the national forest includes several county roads, we want to make sure that we have deputies patrolling them,” Turman said. “We will patrol County Roads 14, 25, 31, 45, Open Pond Road, Highways 29, 137 and 55. The footprint of the national forest covers all of those highways and county roads.”

Turman said that they will also be patrolling the recreational areas.

“We will make sure to go through the different recreational areas,” Turman said. “Like Blue Lake Camp and Open Pond Recreation Area. We are going to pay attention particularly on holiday weekends like Memorial Day and Labor Day because there will be a lot of traffic through there.”

He said that there is always suspicious activity going on in the county’s rural areas, and this grant will be a way to keep an eye on all of it.

“This is just a measure to make sure that nothing happens over there,” Turman said. “But there is always suspicious activity. Staying on top of it is the only way that we are going to be able to prevent these burglaries that are happening all over the county.”

Turman plans to start patrolling the area around the Memorial Day Weekend.

“We should get about 340 man power hours down there,” Turman said. “And it will be funded for the rest of the year, so we will make sure to use it during our busiest times.”