FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2021
Contact: Tim Nyander
Utilities Director
479-575-8386
tnyander@fayetteville-ar.gov
Prescribed Burns Scheduled for Prairies in West Fayetteville
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.— Prescribed burns will take place on prairie land in west Fayetteville near Persimmon Street, between 54th and Broyles Avenues. The burns are part of vegetation management efforts and prairie restoration. When weather and site conditions are most conducive, experienced technicians will conduct thorough and safe burns. Prior to the prescribed burns’ completion, burn crews will assure that all sparks and embers have been fully extinguished. Being a prairie grassland/forb fire, there will not be long-term smoldering as occurs with forest fires. City of Fayetteville and City of Farmington Fire Departments will be notified and on standby status to assist, if needed.
A containment line has been established to maintain the fire within the designated burn area. The public is welcome to attend the prescribed burn; however, bystanders will be required to stay behind the containment line.
The first prescribed burn will occur during the week of January 25 at the West Side Prairie. Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, in cooperation with Comprehensive Botanical Services and Northwest Arkansas Land Trust, will conduct a prescribed burn at the 40-acre conservation easement. This prescribed burn is the first in a series of management actions to restore and enhance West Side Prairie’s native plant community. In 2019, baseline monitoring identified 208 native plant species at the site, seven of which are species of special concern that are tracked by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission (ANHC).
For more information about the West Side Prairie or the prescribed burn, please contact Marson Nance, Director of Land Protection & Stewardship for Northwest Arkansas Land Trust, by phone at (479) 966-4666 or by email at mnance@nwalandtrust.org.
The second prescribed burn will be at the Woolsey Wet Prairie and occur prior to March 31. The City will issue more information closer to the burn date.
###