The District has hired professionals to conduct a prairie burn at the Preserve this tomorrow, Saturday April 26th with a start time between 9-11am! We will be burning roughly 21 acres of prairie. The trails will be CLOSED during the burn, and there will be signs indicating that their is a prescribed burn. The burn will last a few hours. Please avoid the Preserve during this time.
In case you didn't know - burning your prairie provides many benefits to the prairie ecosystem! Fire helps cycle nutrients and reduces the invasion of less desirable fire-sensitive species such as the non-native buckthorn. Fire is beneficial as it acts as nature's gardener by trimming back trees and overmature shrubs that shade out sun-dependent plants, such as grasses and prairie flowers. After a burn, the blackened soil quickly absorbs sunlight. The warmed earth encourages seed germination. Charred plant remains turn into a rich fertilizer, encouraging new grass growth to sprout from the network of root systems deep below ground.