Eastern Shore Burning

 Prescribed Fires to Begin at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) announces that their prescribed fire program will begin in January. Prescribed fires are used as a management tool to reduce wildfire risks and improve wildlife habitats. The Blackwater fire crew, assisted by Maryland Department of Natural Resources, will be burning designated areas of marshlands, woodlands, and agricultural fields during the next five months on Blackwater NWR, Fishing Bay WMA, and small areas of nearby private land. The objectives are public safety, habitat improvement, reduction of hazardous fuels, and control of exotic and invasive species. Priority areas to be burned are near private residences and property adjacent to eagle nests, Delmarva fox squirrel habitat, and safety zones along public highways. Agricultural field burns are done to facilitate the farming and moist soil impoundment management program. Several small grassland areas will also be burned to control woody plants and maintain the fields in grassland habitat.

All prescribed fires will be coordinated through the Dorchester County Fire Control and the Maryland Forest Service. Local residents who see fires and smoke associated with the refuge’s prescribed burns can be assured that these burns are being conducted in a manner to minimize impacts to the environment and ensure public and firefighter safety. If all prescriptive parameters within the fire plan are not met, such as wind, relative humidity, temperature, weather, and fuel conditions, the fire will not be started.

We see smoke from fires in the wetlands at Blackwater almost every year. I understand burning ag fields, to kill weeds and their seeds, but I suspect deliberately  burning wetlands to be counter productive. They constantly whine about sea level rise, but burning wetland gets rid of the grasses which fall down, and form the peat that keeps the wetlands rising with natural sea level rise. Does the burning make the wetland nice and green? Yes, for a while, but ultimately they're encouraging the drowning of the wetlands.