Two prescribed burns planned Thursday in Fayetteville

Workers with Oklahoma-based Chloeta Fire conduct a controlled burn at Lake Fayetteville in April 2010.

Courtesy photo

Two prescribed burns are planned for Thursday morning near the city’s two wastewater treatment plants.

Burn sites include the Woolsey Wet Prairie, located north of the West Side Wastewater Treatment Plant at 15 S. Broyles Street, and in an area northwest of the Noland Wastewater Treatment Plant at 1500 N. Fox Hunter Road.

The burns could begin as early as 9 a.m. and should take less than two hours to complete, according to a city news release.

Prescribed burns are an effective method for controlling fast-growing woody vegetation that when left unmanaged will transition to the dominant vegetation type. Maintenance of open meadow areas encourages the growth of a diverse variety of native wildflowers.

For more information, call Jeff Hickle with CH2M HILL at 479-445-5676, or Lynn Hyke with Fayetteville’s Utility Department at 479-575-8363.


Fox Hunter Road burn

This prescribed burn is part of continued efforts to transform a former fescue-bermuda grass pasture back to a bottomland meadow plant community adjacent to the city’s wastewater treatment facility. The prescribed burn also includes an ongoing natural landscape project (xeriscape) where native plant selection is based upon local climate requirements and an emphasis on providing ecosystem services.The final result of this vegetation management effort will be to encourage the growth of native plants such as purple coneflower, plains coreopsis, switch grasses and various native blue stems.
Source: City news release

Broyles Avenue burn

The purpose of the prescribed burn is for adaptive management of the wetland plant community within the city’s mitigation site. The final result of these vegetation management efforts will be to restore a remnant wetland prairie that is composed of native plant species. This will provide a unique natural resource that few communities have the opportunity to enjoy. This burn is part of the ongoing maintenance that has seen native vegetation at this site flourish. In 2005, there were 47 identified plant species at the site. Today, there are 431 identified species, nine of which are species of special concern that are tracked by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission.
Source: City news release