Dear Waters ecovolunteers,
We have been conducting prescribed burns of our native gardens at Waters for the past 20 years. They are awesome events, and a humbling experience to witness the intense power of fire on landscapes.
Prairies, savannas and oak woods are fire evolved ecosystems. Without fire they would evolve into different ecosystems (in historic times, they would evolve into mixed forests including fire intolerant trees. In modern times they would devolve into weird mixes of invasive species and aggressive natives).
We will be conducting controlled burns at Waters and at the Riverbank this spring. If you would like to learn more about the science, procedures and safety techniques that are employed during a burn, you are invited to a Burn Workshop (via Zoom) on Wednesday, February 23 at 6:00. Attendance at this workshop is required if you would like to join our burn crew on the day of the actual burn.
We are lucky to have a number of certified burn crew members in our community who will be joining the presentation. We have permits in hand from the Illinois EPA. We are ready to go.
Here is the invitation:
Mr. Leki