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Letter to the editor

These fires help flora, fauna

The island will get a few more prescribed burns this year.

By NICK JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer
Published January 20, 2008

FORT DE SOTO - Palm trees were left scorched and smoldering like rows of spent matchsticks across 11 acres of Fort De Soto Park last week after the island's first prescribed burn of the year.

A prescribed burn, commonly referred to as a controlled burn, is one of the most effective ways for the park staff to manage the forests.

They expect to conduct five or six prescribed burns this year, some to reduce undergrowth that can act as fuel for wildfires, and others to provide ecological benefits.

"We've been waiting on a burn on either side of the road here for several weeks, and every time we expected to, the humidity dropped too low," said Robert Browning, the Pinellas County park district supervisor who oversees Fort De Soto.

The burn took place in the Arrowhead Picnic Area along a section of the island known as North Beach.

Although prescribed burns can pose a danger to people, as with the recent fire that may have contributed to the deadly pileups on Interstate 4, they are conducted under strict parameters and rarely get out of hand.

A prescription has to be written for each burn stating the acceptable wind conditions, temperatures and humidity. The prescription is then authorized by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Forestry.

If weather conditions exceed those stated, the burn is canceled or extinguished.

Being on an island, burns conducted at Fort De Soto are particularly safe. They are conducted during the middle of the week, when attendance is the lowest, and the smoke usually affects only a small swath of the park.

The staff's main concern is keeping the fire from jumping to other areas, Browning said.

Wednesday's burn was a success, and the rain that followed on Thursday helped the park staff "mop up," or make sure that the fire was extinguished.

The Florida Division of Forestry authorizes the burning of nearly 2-million acres a year.

"If we don't prescribe burns, we are going to have that heavy buildup of fuel, and during our wildfire season, it's going to make things a lot worse," said Ronda Sutphen of the Division of Forestry's fire prevention department.

The burns, which take the place of naturally occurring forest fires, are also beneficial to a variety of plants and animals.

"Fire is not always a bad thing. It's a natural tool," Browning said. "You're going to see all kinds of new growth in the area that has been dormant for a long time."

A number of native plants like the sand pine rely on fire to reproduce. Their seed pods won't open until they are exposed to flames.

Clearing the forest floor also provides an increased feeding area for small mammals, which eat the new growth, and birds of prey that feed on the mammals.

"Tomorrow the bunnies will be out here and the raccoons will be licking the ash," park supervisor Jim Wilson said Wednesday.

The palm trees, left blackened by the flames, replace their sizzled exterior with new fronds within months.

"It's almost like you threw fertilizer on them," Browning said.

Nick Johnson can be reached at nickjohnson@sptimes.com or 893-8361.

[Last modified January 19, 2008, 21:48:41]