Feb. 16, 2023
Contact: Tim Nyander
Utilities Director
479-575-8386
tnyander@fayetteville-ar.gov
Prescribed burn planned at Woolsey Wet Prairie Sanctuary
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The City of Fayetteville will be conducting a prescribed burn on Friday, Feb. 17, at Woolsey Wet Prairie Sanctuary, a wetland mitigation site located immediately north of the West Side Wastewater Treatment Plant at 15 South Broyles Ave.
The burn is scheduled to begin around noon and will take two to four hours to complete. The burn will be on a 64.5-acre tract that borders the west side of Broyles Road, to the east of 54th Avenue and to the south of Persimmon Street.
The purpose of the prescribed burn is for adaptive management of the wetland plant community within the City’s wetland mitigation site. In 2005, baseline monitoring identified 47 plant species at the site. As of the end of the 2022 growing season, 502 plant species have been observed, 11 of which are species of special concern tracked by the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission.
A containment line has been established to maintain the fire within the designated burn area. Members of the public are welcome to attend the prescribed burn; however, bystanders will be required to stay behind the containment line. This will be the fifteenth prescribed burn at Woolsey Wet Prairie Sanctuary since 2008. Being a prairie grassland/forb fire, there will not be long-term smoldering as occurs with forest fires.
Ozark Ecological Restoration Inc. will conduct the burn under supervision of the City’s environmental consultant. The Fayetteville and Farmington fire departments will be notified and on standby to assist, if needed. After completion of the prescribed burn, the burn crew will assure that all sparks and embers have been fully extinguished.
For more information, contact Utilities Director Tim Nyander at 479-575-8386 or tnyander@fayetteville-ar.gov.
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