Jacques Nuzzo uses a drip torch to light the first-everprescribed burn at the Illinois Raptor Center.

Vern LaGesse uses a backpack sprayer to wet the edge of a firebreak.

Fire burns slowly down the hill in the valley. Fire burns much faster uphill, that's why we started at the top.

The 1.5 acre prairie at the burn's conclusion (Above and below).

Diary of a Restoration

10th Installment, March 19, 2004

The Illinois Raptor Center conducted its first-ever prescribed burn March 19 with the help of LaGesse and Assoc., an ecological restoration firm. Fire is a necessary tool to manage native plant communities in the Midwest, but it can also be a dangerous one. That is why the IRC sought experienced help to conduct the first fire.

Plants native to prairies and oak woodlands are adapted to periodic fires. Since much of a prairie plant lives below ground, fires don't kill them. Fires do set back weeds that grow in cool weather, allowing prairie plants to gain the upper hand. Oak leaves persist through the fall, and readily carry fire. Bur oak, in particular, has especially thick bark to help it resist fire.

Fire helps control weeds and exotic species that can overwhelm native plants without help. Proper management, including fire, can help make a restoration a roaring success.

Proper safety equipment and good firebreaks canhelp insure a successful burn.

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