DNR conducts controlled burn in Crawford County
A dozen workers implemented a controlled burn on prairie and woodland outside Bell Center, WIsc., for the purposes of creating a high-diversity prairie and encouraging the growth of warm season grasses. (Steve Van Kooten/Courier Press)
By Steve Van Kooten
Immediately east of Wisconsin 131, north of Sand Creek Road and just outside Bell Center, Wisconsin, the sky filled with smoke on April 10.
From the late morning through the afternoon, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) employed a controlled burn on approximately 138 acres, 100 of which were wild prairies.
“The objectives are [sic] just prairie establishment to get the warm-season grasses a little bit of an advantage over the cool-season seasons [grasses] that might still be in there,” WDNR Wildlife Biologist Dan Goltz said in a briefing before the burn commenced.
The WDNR separated the prairie land into two areas: a flat, four-year-old eastern unit and a topographically varied western unit converted from agricultural land to warm-season grasses and flowering plants called forbs.
The remaining 38 acres consisted of two woodland areas higher up the bluffs. The controlled burn would preserve desirable species, such as oak trees, and mitigate invasive species in the area, like honeysuckle and Japanese barrberry.
“Fire keeps those at bay, hopefully, and keeps the ground open for sunlight to get seedlings started,” said Goltz. “We have to maintain oak on the landscape as long as we can. If we don’t burn, they kind of convert to more maple and central hardwoods.”
In preparation for the controlled burn, workers mowed 15-foot breaks around the perimeter of both areas, along with additional four-foot leaf-blown areas along the breaks. Workers mowed clearance areas around power line poles, a few desirable trees and access ways.
Goltz added the prairie units would be burned first due to weather conditions. The day’s forecast indicated 5–10 miles per hour winds from the southwest, 20–30 percent cloud cover and an estimated temperature of 60 degrees at ignition time. While the weather conditions were mostly favorable, there were still a few concerns.
“Mixing height is interesting today. It’s going to start out not too great [sic] at about 1,000 feet, then shortly before noon, it jumps up to 7,400 feet, so smoke dispersal is going to be kind of lousy for the first unit.”
By 11:15 a.m., the smoke plumed from the east corner of the first prairie, which heralded a running head fire that blackened the ground. Small whirlwinds kicked across the char after the flames swept over the grass. The prairie looked arid — a patch of desert ensconced among the bluffs — ready for new grasses and plants to flourish.
