Prescribed burns help to eliminate duff and litter, matted grasses, dense woody shrubs and Ashe juniper, allowing native grasses to flourish as they once did in the native savannas of the eastern Hill Country. As the Forestry Extension Service of Iowa State University explains:
Prescribed fire is a tool utilized under very specific and predetermined conditions (weather, fuel load, and season) to manipulate the environment and achieve a desired outcome. Historically, fire was used by Native Americans to clear forested understories of saplings and shrubs and promote open park-like savannas dominated by grasses. This combination of trees and grass increased both overall game populations and access for hunting. Fires helped to control unwanted pests (mosquitoes, biting flies, etc.), and to increase safety around the living areas by increasing the visibility. Learning from the past, land stewards now use prescribed fire in forests to manage vegetation, improve wildlife habitat, and control pest problems. (https://www.extension.iastate.edu/forestry/publications/PDF_files/PM2088C.pdf)
Two prescribed burns were conducted in 2019, one in January, one in December. The first, in January, required two attempts, due to unsatisfactory burn conditions on the first. The first set of photos below is from the first January attempt that took place near the Park entrance on January 9, 2019. The second set is from the successful burn on January 19, and the third set is from the successful burn on December 3.
Due to bad weather conditions, the prescribed burn of January 9, 2019, did not accomplish its goal of clearing several hundred acres of brush and cedar growth near the park entrance and along the east side of Park Road 31 between Park Headquarters and the Park Host camp site. Another prescribed burn took place ten days later, on January 19, with solid results, with photos of this burn below.
December 3 was a near-perfect day for a prescribed burn. The west side of Park Road 31, from near the Day Use Area to the Park Headquarters, was burned.
