Prescribed Burn at Woolsey Wet Prairie

A prescribed burn was held today at Woolsey Wet Prairie in Fayetteville, AR. The burn was conducted by Environmental Consulting Operations, Inc. and Wildland Inc. in order to remove invasive grasses and dead plant matter. This enables native plants to have access to sunlight in the spring. The burn will also trigger native seeds to germinate in the spring, which may not have germinated without being subjected to an intense fire. Management practices such as this ensures the stability of the ecosystem over time, and helps fight against pressure from invasive plants. To learn more about the Woolsey Wet Prairie, click here (.pdf).

Here's a short video of the fire

Click on the pictures below for a larger image.

Bruce Shackleford, president of Environmental Consulting Operations, Inc., had this to say about the days events:

Today, we completed the prescribed burn at Woolsey Wet Prairie. Prior to the burn, I notified the City of Fayetteville Fire Department about our plans and received Burn Permit # 6038. Out of courtesy to the City of Farmington, I also notified their fire department since their city limits are nearby.

With the wind out of the north, our burn contractor Bill McKinney (Wildland, Inc.) had his crew start a back fire at the south end of the property that burned northward into the wind. After a few moments, they set a head fire at the north end that was carried by the wind toward the back fire. They also crossed standing water to reach the prairie mounds to ignite them with hand-held drip torches.

We had numerous spectators, including Lynn Hyke City of Fayetteville Construction Mgr., Lane Crider McGoodwin, Williams & Yates VP of Special Projects, Thom Dodd of OMI, Joe and Alex Woolbright of OERI, Frou Gallagher videographer for the City Channel, J.T. Wampler photojournalist for The Morning News, local birders Andy Scaboo and Brandon Schmidt, and several others. I had also invited developer Tracy Hoskins to observe the burn. That is another story described below.

As the site burned, we observed the mass exodus of hispid cotton rats, as hawks soared overhead looking for an easy meal. At one point when flames approached a marsh, we saw an American Bittern fly out of the tall grasses and land near a small pond of water. This is a really cool bird!

By this afternoon, J.T. Wampler had already posted his photos on The Morning News website. You can view them at:

http://nwabehindthelens.com/2009/02/19/wetland-burning/

Frou Gallagher shot a video that will be aired on the City Channel in the near future. If you want to see the burn in action, check the City Channel scheduling at:

http://www.accessfayetteville.org/government/cable/public_access_television/index.cfm

I will be posting additional fire photos in the near future on the Woolsey Wet Prairie website at:

http://ecoarkansas.com/WoolseyMain.html

Once the burn was completed, the snipes returned to their shallows to feed, the frogs resumed their chorus, and many of the songbirds simply moved to the adjacent fields. Within weeks, we will see the spring green up begin and another increase in plant species diversity is anticipated as Woolsey Wet Prairie Sanctuary continues to be remodeled.

After the burn, I notified the Fayetteville Fire Department that our burn was completed. Bill McKinney and his crew departed with the Woolbrights to do an afternoon burn at Chesney Prairie. His dozer contractor headed to the Park West property on Hwy 112 to cut a fire line. I had discussed ecological restoration with Hoskins and put him in touch with McKinney. I wanted Hoskins to see what we are doing at Woolsey, so I invited him to the burn. Wildland, Inc. will burn Hoskins' 140 acre prairie remnant Park West property tomorrow, weather permitting. As with Woolsey Wet Prairie, an increase in native plant species should be observed after the burn. Educating developers about ecological restoration is an integral part of Green Infrastructure Planning and watershed protection.

The highlight of the burn came when an American Bittern flew out of the smoke and fire, landing about thirty yards in front of us in a small pond. The photos below are courtesy of Bruce Shackelford, who was able to take a few pictures before the bird found better cover.