Schedule calls for about 600 acres, ‘in small manageable units,’ to be burned in Deer Prairie Creek Preserve and the Schewe Tract
As “prescribed fires in controlled settings can reduce the risk of wildfires burning out of control,” the Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) will be conducting prescribed burns through September within Deer Prairie Creek Preserve and the Schewe Tract in Sarasota County, the District announced on July 9.
Deer Prairie Creek Preserve and the Schewe Tract “are located west of North Port, east of the Myakka River, and north and south of Interstate 75,” a District news release points out. “Approximately 600 acres will be burned in small, manageable units,” the release says.
Among the “major benefits of prescribed fire” are the following, the release points out:
- Reducing plant overgrowth, thereby decreasing the “risk of catastrophic wildfires.
- “Promoting the growth of new, diverse plants.
- “Maintaining the character and condition of wildlife habitat.
- “Maintaining access for public recreation.”
The release further notes, “The District conducts prescribed fires on approximately 30,000 acres each year.”
To see “aerial footage from a prescribed fire in the Green Swamp Wilderness Preserve,” where District land management staff burned 320 acres, the release notes, “Click here.”