Controlled burns help county manage natural habitats
SUN PHOTO BY SCOTT LOCKWOOD
Palmetto and other scrub plants pop up around a blackened tree branch lying in an area of the Old Miakka Preserve that underwent a controlled burn in October. Vegetation usually starts to regrow almost immediately after a prescribed burn.
SUN PHOTO BY SCOTT LOCKWOOD
Palmetto and other scrub plants pop up around a blackened tree branch lying in an area of the Old Miakka Preserve that underwent a controlled burn in October. Vegetation usually starts to regrow almost immediately after a prescribed burn..
SARASOTA COUNTY — Chances are that sometime over the last few months, you’ve seen a large plume of smoke coming from a wooded area.
What you’re seeing is likely not a wildfire, but a prescribed burn that Jeff Weber, a Sarasota County environmental specialist, says helps minimize wildfires and helps properly manage habitats. Burned lands usually bounce back quickly after the fires, which usually last less than a day.