FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 15, 2015
PRESCRIBED BURNS PLANNED FOR TOWER ROAD
~Burn targeted for Jan. 16-21~
NAPLES – Resource management staff at Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research
Reserve have released plans for their first prescribed burns in 2015. Weather
permitting, prescribed fires will commence each day around 9 a.m. from Jan. 16 through Jan. 21 in areas west of Tower Road and Barefoot Williams, south
of the Treviso Bay area.
Rookery Bay
Reserve staff coordinate burns with the Florida Forestry Service and work with partnering land managers and local fire departments to get the job
done safely and efficiently.
Residents in the adjacent areas will see and possibly smell smoke from the fire. Fire personnel
will contact visitors in the area to ensure their safety while traveling near
activity areas and will carefully monitor the fire throughout the day until it
extinguishes.
“The
main purpose of these burns is to reduce fuel loads and manage wildlife habitat,”
said Rookery Bay Reserve Resource Management Coordinator Jeff Carter. "Prescribed burns also help to increase ecosystem diversity, while assisting in invasive plant control."
According
to Carter, a major portion of Collier County is comprised
of plants that are dependent on fire to maintain species composition and
diversity. These species are the same as those that are prone to lightning-strike
wildfires and the controlled reduction of those fuels will prevent
catastrophic wildfire damage. Fire-dependent plants include the South Florida
slash pine, gallberry, saw palmetto and scrub oaks.
There
are a number of reasons why prescribed fire is used as a management tool in
natural areas, which include:
- Reduction of fuel load to decrease threat of wildfires;
-
Stimulation of food and seed
production and opening areas for wildlife feeding and
travel;
-
Ecosystem diversity;
-
Enhanced endangered and threatened species
habitat; and
- Invasive plant control.
For more information about Rookery Bay’s
prescribed fire program, click here.
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