Mid-winter burns!

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, we were able to successfully set fire to four different burn units on the property, on the Reimer, North Whiterock, and Anthofer farms, all on the north side of the Middle Raccoon River. The relative drought of the last few weeks, along with warm temperatures and a low relative humidity, created the perfect conditions for a few days of mid-winter burning on south facing slopes!The map above shows the four different units that we burned during the mini-spring we had this week. For reference, the Middle Raccoon River represents the sourthern boundary of all of the units and the three ponds in the middle of the page are due east of the Whiterock campground, which is labeled with the black arrow. Last fall, we attempted to burn the two easternmost units, South Reimer and Anthofer Triangle, but the days were cold and the ground was moist, so we had little luck.

On Tuesday of this week, a small crew went back to South Reimer and secured a portion of the perimeter by relighting the burn line. We then went in to the interior and set fires on the degraded woodland ridges. On Wednesday, a larger group, including myself, Matt Reiling, Sean Christensen, Jeana Feazel, Brian Golay, Liz Garst, Mary Garst, Doug Ramsey, and Jerry Peckumn, went out and burned the Log Cabin Pasture, North Whiterock, and relit the Anthofer Triangle. The log cabin, which was built in 1933 by Delbert Brutsche, is located northeast of the campground and in the middle of our burn unit and is a Whiterock Valley antiquity, and we took extra care to not burn it down!

The Log Cabin Pasture and North Whiterock units are dominated by cool-season oak savanna pastures and woodlands, and the mid-winter burn helped to topkill the invasive multiflora rose, honey locust, and eastern redcedar, and also stimulate the smooth brome. Most of these units have historically been sprayed with herbicides, so the presence of native plants is limited, and they are both part of the Whiterock Conservancy pasture system. Many of the fires that we'll light later on in the spring will be aimed at diminishing the smooth brome in areas where native plants dominate, like our prairie and savanna remnants. By using fires set during different times of the year, we can manage for and against many species.

The burns this week went way better than expected, due to our fabulous staff and volunteers on the prescribed fire crew, and some of the most excellent burn conditions we've had in the last year! Keeping up-to-date with the weather and fuel conditions is a hard thing when you're watching over 5,000 acres of land, but it's worth it when you get to set fires like these!

Keep up to date with our prescribed fire program over the next few months, and sign up for our volunteer crew by emailing elizabeth@whiterockconservancy.org if you'd like to receive updates of when we'll be burning.