For Immediate Release
March 2, 2016
Contact: Byron Humphry
Parks Maintenance Superintendent
Parks and Recreation Department
479-575-8368
bhumphry@fayetteville-ar.gov
Prescribed Burns to Take Place at Lake Fayetteville
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The City of Fayetteville is planning prescribed burns in two locations at Lake Fayetteville; the burns are tentatively scheduled to be conducted on Friday, March 4, if predicted weather conditions materialize. The burns will be rescheduled if weather conditions are unsuitable. The prescribed burns are part of the City’s ongoing efforts to restore and maintain the natural vegetation at Lake Fayetteville; prescribed burns aid in prairie restoration, site preparation, and reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire.
One prescribed burn will take place at the Lake Fayetteville dam area, requiring the closure of paved and nature trails from Veteran’s Memorial Park to the Lake Fayetteville Marina during the burn. The second prescribed burn will occur at Callie’s Prairie, a 40-acre prairie restoration site located north of the Environmental Study Center off Lakeview Drive. Paved and nature trails from the Environmental Study Center north around to the Botanical Gardens of the Ozarks will be closed. For safety reasons, the public will not be allowed in these areas while the burns are being conducted.
Oklahoma-based Chloeta Fire (CFI), a Native American owned company providing wild land and prescribed fire consulting and contracting services, will plan and conduct the burn. The personnel of CFI collectively possess many decades of prior public-sector firefighting experience in addition to advanced industry qualifications and educational backgrounds in fields such as forestry, rangeland management, and wildlife ecology. The team of wild land fire professionals will ensure that the burn is conducted with minimal impact. Prescribed burns are only implemented under a strict set of weather and environmental parameters such as moisture, relative humidity, and smoke dispersion indices.
Citizens may see or smell smoke on the day of the prescribed burns. Public safety is the number one priority for the City and burn contractor. Please call the Parks and Recreation Department at 479-444-3471 for closure information.
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