Controlled burn at Peachtree Rock Preserve benefits Mother Nature

If you saw smoke out that way and thought there was a fire, you were correct. But it was intentional, and actually beneficial to Mother Nature.

Lexington, S.C. (WOLO) — On Monday, there was a controlled burn at Peachtree Rock Preserve in Lexington. If you saw smoke out that way and thought there was a fire, you were correct. But it was intentional, and actually beneficial to Mother Nature.

“Our fire will effectively stay on the ground. Just burning through the leaf litter and needle litter that’s on the ground, consuming that dead material, that dead plant material,” said Tom Dooley, Director of Forest Conservation with The Nature Conservancy.

Every few years, controlled burns are held at Peachtree Rock Preserve.

“The forest here is really adapted to periodic fire. The fire serves as a function, like a forest function, and if we didn’t put fire in this forest it would cease to be as unique as it actually is,” said Dooley.

Certain plant species, like the Longleaf Pine, actually need the dead material burned for a better growth.

“They need open space, sunlight on the ground, as far as the forest floor goes. And so in the presence of fire, it helps create that condition for the long-leaf pine,” said Dooley.

Crews that conduct the burns are very cautious before setting fire. Every element of the burn has to be right.

“A well-thought out plan, the right number of people, the right amount of equipment, the right weather; so all those things have to be in place. And then we always start on the downwind side, so a weather forecast is very critical to what we do, and particularly a good, steady wind direction,” said Dooley.

The controlled burns aren’t just good for nature, but can also help prevent wildfires.

“Once we burn it, the likelihood of a wildfire actually occurring in that area in the next year is very low,” said Dooley.

65 acres were burned on Monday, and about 340 acres were burned in total over the course of a couple days.