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Nature Conservancy to Conduct Controlled Burn on Onslow/Pender Border

Burning Will Help Restore Venus Flytraps and Other Rare Plants

WILMINGTON — Aug. 3, 2009 — The Nature Conservancy is planning a controlled burn near Haws Run on the Onslow/Pender border within the next few weeks. The 30-acre site is home to 19 rare or threatened plants, including carnivorous Venus flytraps and Cooley’s meadowrue, which is listed as endangered by the federal government. 

“Right now, we’ve got a lot of shrubs crowding out the unique plants,” said Angie Carl, who directs the Conservancy’s fire efforts in southeastern North Carolina. “We want to use fire to open the place up and restore it back to a longleaf pine savanna, with all the amazing understory including rare plants and grasses.”

Fires once occurred at regular intervals in the coastal plain. These typically low-intensity fires, fueled by grass and pine straw, kept hardwood trees at bay and allowed the longleaf pines and other species to thrive in the open. All that changed in the last century when emphasis was placed on fire suppression and land managers lost sight of the fact that fire is important in maintaining some landscapes.

Controlled burning is a science, and burns are carefully planned and conducted. Nature Conservancy staff look at an area and determine if its ecology can benefit from fire. They develop a fire plan for the site that lays out the conditions under which a fire can achieve its ecological goals, which typically are to knock back competing species like young hardwood trees and reduce the amount of dead material lying around, while allowing the fire-adapted species such as Venus flytraps to flourish in the opened area. After the fire, the Conservancy monitors the burned area to see if it met the ecological goals.

The property is located off highway 50 behind Sandy Run State Park, near the eastern border of Camp Lejeune.

NOTES TO THE MEDIA
• The Conservancy can arrange a pre-burn tour of the area, so you can document what it looks like now and learn more about the restoration effort. This is a good opportunity to educate your audience about a wonderful environment in their own backyard.

• Because controlled burns are dependent on certain weather conditions, the decision to burn is made fairly close to the actual burn. The Conservancy can put interested members of the media on a list to be notified when the burn is likely to occur.

• Because this is the first controlled burn at Haws Run, it is likely that people may be concerned if they see smoke. Any help you can give us with letting your audience know that the burn is coming in the next few weeks and also notifying them when the actual burn occurs would be a great public service in allaying unnecessary fear.
 

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. The Conservancy and its more than 1 million members have protected nearly 120 million acres worldwide. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.