NAPLES, Fla. – Resource management staff at Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve have released plans for their first prescribed burns in 2019. Prescribed burns will commence each day around 9 a.m. as weather permits starting Jan. 19 through the end of March.
Fires are planned for the following areas: west of Collier Boulevard and south of Henderson Creek, along Powerline Road (adjacent to Artesia and Treviso Bay), along Shell Island Road, and north and south ends of Keewaydin Island.
Rookery Bay Reserve staff coordinate burns with the Florida Forestry Service and work with partnering land managers and local fire departments to ensure the burns are conducted safely and efficiently.
Residents in the adjacent areas will see and possibly smell smoke from the fire. Fire personnel will contact visitors in the area to ensure their safety while traveling near activity areas and will carefully monitor the fire throughout the day until it extinguishes.
“The main purpose of these burns is to reduce fuel loads and manage wildlife habitat,” said Rookery Bay Reserve Resource Management Coordinator Jeff Carter. “Prescribed burns also help to increase ecosystem diversity, while assisting in invasive plant control.”
According to Carter, a major portion of Collier County is comprised of plants that are dependent on fire to maintain species composition and diversity. These species are the same as those that are prone to lightning-strike wildfires and the controlled reduction of those fuels will prevent catastrophic wildfire damage. Fire-dependent plants include, the South Florida slash pine, gallberry, saw palmetto and scrub oaks.
Rookery Bay Research Reserve
Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve stretches across 110,000 acres of pristine mangrove forest, uplands and protected waters. We are committed to preservation through research, education, and land protection.