{"id":40708,"date":"2024-01-19T12:15:21","date_gmt":"2024-01-19T17:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=40708"},"modified":"2024-01-19T12:15:21","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T17:15:21","slug":"prescribed-burn-brings-new-life-to-frederick-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2024\/01\/19\/prescribed-burn-brings-new-life-to-frederick-forest\/","title":{"rendered":"Prescribed Burn Brings New Life to Frederick Forest"},"content":{"rendered":"

DNR oversees dozens of controlled fires annually to manage Maryland woodland areas<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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DNR forester Sean Weaver, left, walks along the fireline shortly after the start of a prescribed burn in Frederick. Photo by Joe Zimmermann<\/p><\/div>\n

It was a chilly morning in the Frederick Watershed and the woods were quiet and peaceful. Without the sound of even a passing bird, a stillness filled the air between the nearly bare trees.<\/span><\/p>\n

But at the intersection of two rocky roads deep in the watershed, there was a growing commotion. Red hats, yellow vests, and blue suits appeared through the vegetation. A fleet of pickups and fuel trucks and UTVs lined the forest edge. Dozens of people were gathering and prepping equipment for the day. They were about to set the woods on fire.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to keep this briefing quick so we can bump up that hill,\u201d Sean Weaver, a Maryland Department of Natural Resources forester for the watershed, told the assembled crowd at an 8 a.m. huddle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Weaver was overseeing the day\u2019s prescribed burn of a 93-acre stretch of the watershed known as the \u201cTurkey Pens.\u201d The fire, a result of meticulous planning and coordination, aimed at restoring pitch pine and oak trees in the forest.<\/span><\/p>\n

The substantial crew comprised DNR staff from the Maryland Forest Service, Maryland Park Service, and Wildlife and Heritage Service, as well as partners from the National Park Service and Frederick City, and environmental science students from Juniata College in Pennsylvania. They readied to break off into teams that would tackle different sections of the Turkey Pens, filing back and forth along the edges until the separate lines would converge.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re all going to be one big dysfunctional family,\u201d joked Aaron Cook of the Forest Service and the burn\u2019s ignition boss.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Forester Aaron Cook conducts an early morning briefing for the assembled team. Photo by Joe Zimmermann<\/p><\/div>

\"fire<\/a>

The last of the fire crew walks up the hill in the calm of the Frederick Watershed just before the burn begins. Photo by Joe Zimmermann<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

After ascending the hill and setting a test fire to confirm conditions were right, the crew got to work. Many carried drip torches\u2014canisters filled with a 3:2 mixture of diesel and gas\u2014and drizzled the burning fuel along the ground, tipping them like infernal watering cans. Before long, the woods were crackling.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCertain trees are on the decline here, and are being replaced, partly because of the lack of fire,\u201d said Jenny Willoughby, the City of Frederick\u2019s sustainability manager, as she walked the fire line. \u201cIt\u2019s probably been about 100 years since this area has seen a big burn, and since that point, whenever an oak dies, a maple, a birch or a gum is going to take its place.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In part, the prescribed burn serves as a corrective to that process. By removing a good portion of the duff\u2014the leaf litter and organic matter that make up the forest floor\u2014and clearing out many of the maple, gum and birch saplings, the fire gives species like pine and oak a chance to prosper. These trees are fire-resistant and come back faster in the bare mineral soil the flames leave behind.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Fire<\/a>

Foresters hold drip torches, which spill lighted fuel onto the forest floor. Photo by Joe Zimmermann<\/p><\/div>

\"low-level<\/a>

Low-level fires like the one in Frederick will eat through the duff\u2013the layer of leaf litter\u2013and burn off woody debris. Photo by Joe Zimmermann<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n

The new tree growth should also help keep the soil intact and prevent sediment from building up in streams and groundwater, which in turn protects the nearby reservoir that provides Frederick with 20% of its water supply. Wildlife stand to benefit as well: as a mast species, oaks produce nuts that sustain more animals.<\/span><\/p>\n

The low-intensity fire swept through the underbrush, with enough heat to kill saplings but still keep mature trees intact. The human noise tends to drive away most animals before the fire even begins, but the blaze is low enough that squirrels, snakes and other wildlife can sit it out safely in underground burrows, Willoughby said. During the late November burn, no animals emerged, except for one confused deer that ran through the area late in the day, and quickly moved on.<\/span><\/p>\n

Prescribed burns, also called controlled burns, have become an<\/span> increasingly common strategy<\/span><\/a> for land management and wildfire prevention. Large wildfires are not as much of a concern in Maryland as they are in western states, but the prescribed burns conducted here still reduce the dead woody debris and shrub layer that could serve as fuel for unintended fires.<\/span><\/p>\n

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