Using Prescribed Fire as a Restoration Tool

Byron Brooks - Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center

                                                    (Photo: Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center) 

From the time of European settlement onward, fire has been assiduously excluded from the landscape. As a result of that and other poor land management practices, quality grassland habitat that once covered a great deal of the more-level topography in our area has shrunk to a mere fraction of its original extent. Grassland habitat that remains is often overrun with invasive exotic grass species like tall fescue, Festuca arundinacea, or native woody species like sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua. These species have not adapted to regular disturbance by fires like our native grassland species. The reintroduction of fire to the landscape can be an effective tool for vital habitat restoration, especially for grasslands, which are some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems.

Read on to learn more about our most recent prescribed burn.