None The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts Press Releases Search All Press Releases Kerry Crisley 617-227-7017, ext.316, kcrisley@tnc.org

Prescribed fire season begins with successful burn at the Massasoit National Wildlife Refuge

The Nature Conservancy, in partnership with trained and experienced firefighters from the National Park Service and the Department of Conservation and Recreation, launched its 2007 prescribed fire season with a prescribed burn in the Massasoit National Wildlife Refuge.

The Conservancy’s fire program is supported through the sponsorship of the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation.

Prescribed burns are the controlled application of fire to achieve a specific objective. At the Massasoit refuge, the burn is designed to reduce the risk of wildfire and maintain the area’s native pine barrens habitat.

About Prescribed Burning

According to the National Interagency Fire Center, more than 96,000 wildfires occurred across 10 million acres in the United States in 2006. Many people associate wildfires with the West, not realizing that New England has the potential for volatile fires of its own, particularly in the assortment of grasslands, shrublands and forests in Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod and Islands collectively known as pine barrens.

One very effective tool for wildfire prevention is prescription burning.  Prescribed burns target fast burning fuel types like dry leaves, pine needles, and underbrush in an organized and controlled manner.  This significantly reduces the risk of catastrophic wildfire, making surrounding communities safer.

In addition, some habitats depend on naturally occurring fires in order to flourish.

• Pitch pine/scrub oak barrens serve as habitat for a number of rare plant, insect, and animal species.  Pitch pine has thick bark that resists fire damage, and it produces some cones that release their seeds only when heated by fire. This and other fire-adapted species – like the scrub oak and huckleberry found at the Massasoit Refuge and neighboring Myles Standish State Forest – can sprout back vigorously once the fire has passed, while most invasive tree species do not.
• Grasslands and grassland birds are rare on Cape Cod and the islands, and the few remaining tall grass fields have become the last available suitable habitat for many rare bird species, like the upland sandpiper, grasshopper sparrow, and the vesper sparrow. However, continual encroachment of shrubs and trees may render these habitats unsuitable for these and other grassland ground-nesting birds. Active management – in the form of prescribed burns – is necessary to ensure that grassland species remain a part of Cape Cod and the islands.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.

Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation awards more than $3 million annually to diverse organizations across the United States.  Lowe’s also encourages volunteerism through the Lowe’s Heroes program, a company-wide employee volunteer initiative.  Lowe’s is a FORTUNE® 50 company with fiscal year 2006 sales of $46.9 billion and has more than 1,375 stores in 49 states.  The Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy have named Lowe’s ENERGY STAR Retail Partner of the Year for three consecutive years.  For more information, visit Lowes.com/community.

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