Savannah National Wildlife Refuge has begun controlled burns for the season and plans to burn a total of 2,268 acres over the next three months. The goal is to enhance wildlife habitat and reduce the risk of wildfires on the refuge.
Many of the units involve burning wetland impoundments to open up and provide quality habitat prior to the arrival of wintering waterfowl. Burns are timed so they minimize impacts on wildlife and people with units burned in small blocks to reduce smoke impacts. The burn plan addresses a wide range of factors such as safety, weather, fuel conditions, smoke impacts and also resources needed to conduct the burns. These burn treatments restore the grassland areas, control brush in bottomland hardwood forests, control invasive woody vegetation, and increase the diversity of native plants and wildlife. Other benefits include protection of communities and watersheds by reducing fuels and thus the potential threats of a wildfire.
Trained firefighters plan and carry out the burns under strict conditions, including wind speed and direction, humidity, fuel moisture. Smoke from the fires is a concern, and plans call for specific winds to minimize public impact on roads and communities.
via VIDEO: Wildlife refuge to conduct controlled burns | savannahnow.com.
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