Control Burn on Friday April 20th near Garcon Point
Pensacola , Fla. – April 18, 2012 – Smoke rising from the woodlands near Garcon Point this April and May isn’t necessarily a cause for concern. It will likely be the result of a prescribed burn at the Pensacola Bay Mitigation Bank, and is the first step to restoring plant and animal habitats on this 1000-acre piece of property consisting of mostly wetlands, pine flatwoods and native prairie.
Weather permitting , an approximately 200 acre control burn at the Pensacola Bay Mitigation Bank east of Avalon Boulevard and north of I10 near the Moors Golf Club is planned for Friday, April 20. Citizens in the area may see considerable smoke, but there is no cause for alarm or emergency action. Driving conditions could be impacted by smoke on nearby roads . The prescribed burn is authorized by the Florida Division of Forestry and professionals are on hand to monitor safety.
“Prescribed burning provides us the opportunity to use favorable weather patterns to divert heavy amounts of smoke away from smoke sensitive areas such as interstate highways and residential areas,” said John McGuire, Senior Project Manager for Westervelt Ecological Services.
The alternative to prescribed fire is uncontrolled wildfire. Though it is nature’s way of balancing ecology, wildfire comes with numerous disadvantages including (primarily) threats to human life and structure.
The Pensacola Bay Mitigation Bank is restoring an array of fire-dependent habitats that were once widespread on the Florida panhandle, including carnivorous pitcher plant bogs, open grassland prairies, and park-like pinewood flatlands.
