Why forest preserves are conducting more controlled burns

Lake County Forest Preserve District crews working at Cuba Marsh near Barrington and Rollins Savanna near Round Lake Beach on Wednesday certainly couldn't hear passersby but likely knew what they were thinking.

“It's almost Christmas. What are you guys doing?” said Dave Cassin, manager of landscape ecology.

Favorable weather and a renewed effort to train volunteers has allowed the district to initiate more controlled burns covering more acreage than in a typical fall, he said.

So far, there have about 30 prescribed burns spanning about 1,500 acres, which is “significantly more than average,” 15 to 20 burns on 800 to 1,200 acres, according to Cassin..

“We probably have about 15,000 acres in some sort of priority rotation,” he added.

Controlled burns are regarded as an important, efficient and cost-effective land management tool to maintain and restore ecosystems and provide a benefit for visitors.

“These areas they like to walk and hike wouldn't look the same if we didn't do it,” Cassin said.

A controlled burn can accomplish in several hours what it takes a crew of six to do in a month, when it comes to curbing the spread of buckthorn, Cassin said. Burning also eliminates organic debris that can smother other plants and permits more sunlight and warmth in spring, among other benefits.

This time of year, snow cover usually ends the burning season until spring. But that's not been the case at the Forest Preserve District of Cook County.

“Normally, we're done by now,” said John McCabe, director or resource management and president of the Illinois Prescribed Fire Council. “We're still at the ready,” he added. “It's sort of impacting our other work.”

The controlled burn season for Cook County preserves used to begin in early November but over the last seven to 10 years has been closer to mid-November, in part to allow for dormant wildlife and vegetation, he said.

In Lake County, volunteers provide valuable help because they are able to burn smaller, high quality and hard-to-reach 'remnant' habitats – areas that never have been plowed and where most rare species are found. This year, more volunteers joined the ranks and are being used differently.

Volunteers received controlled-burn training through private donations and equipment was supplied by grant from the Preservation Foundation of the Lake County Forest. This allowed the district for the first time in many years to have a dedicated roster of volunteers in the field.

Rather than having a trained volunteer or two available to assist a professional crew, there now are enough to field entire crews supervised by a small number of staffers.

Fifty-five volunteers are on the controlled burn list, said Kelly Schultz, stewardship ecologist and manager of natural resource volunteer programs.

“We've had multiple folks step up to support this volunteer program,” she said.

New volunteers are welcome at www.lcfpd.org/workdays, she added.