- Prescribed burns help the ecosystem and prevents negative impacts of intense wildfires.
- That's why you may see dark spots on trees at the Apalachicola National Forest
- Watch the video to see why they are beneficial here
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Rebecca Means: “Fire is good for a lot of ecosystems.”
Rebecca Means is an Ecologist and Director of Coastal Plains Institute, a local nonprofit that conducts research and education on the ecosystem.
She says Lightening is how wildfires fires start then it can spread.
Means says prescribed fires happen so it helps prevent wildfires from becoming intense.
Rebecca Means: “By regularly burning, we reduce the fuel loads, so we reduced the ability for these intense wildfires to occur.”
She says if we didn’t burn regularly, the ecosystems would disappear and it would be unsafe for humans if wildfires intensified.
Rebecca Means: “Fire is essential to maintain some of these ecosystems that we value here in the south.”
One of the industries that benefits from prescribed fires is oyster farming.
John Harley: “When you’re out there you realize we’re producing some of the best seafood in the world and part of it is that we are in one of the healthiest ecosystems in the world and we want to keep it that way.”
John Harley owns Serenoa Shellfish and believes prescribed fires help maintain a healthy ecosystem here.
John Harley: “Oysters rely on freshwater and salt water so it’s all a balance of how the water comes out of the rivers in the woods and Springs and having healthy forests is all part of it.”
Means says although the smoke can be bothersome to humans, it’s a quick process that has benefits for this area.
Rebecca Means: “The importance to our area is really great and the more we prescribe burn, the less intense the smoke is and the less intense the health risks are.”
Prescribed fires are typically done in a day. To avoid context with the smoke on days prescribed burns happen, it’s best to stay indoors as much as possible to avoid inhaling it
