Controlled burning conducted near Fort Collins
In attempts to preserve the native biosphere of Fort Collins,
city officials will administer a prescribed burn in the Coyote
Ridge Natural Area, which midway between Fort Collins and
Loveland.
The 200-acre burn is slated for late March and will be
controlled by the Poudre Fire Authority. At least six fire trucks
and 30 firefighters will monitor and ignite the area with the burn,
which is aimed to eliminate the non-native grasses and an
accumulated layer of thatch.
“Our primary objective of this burn is getting the best quality
of native habitat (at the Coyote Ridge Natural Area),” said Rick
Bachand, the Fort Collins senior environmental planner.
Once the burn is complete, the city will plant native grass
seeds in order to restore the natural prairie grasslands that would
normally be growing in the region. Preservation and cosmetic
reasons are the main reason for the burn.
“We’re trying to get in there and out in one day to remove
several years of growth and weeds,” Bachand said.
A prescribed burn is a planned, carefully controlled fire where
each step in the burn process is established in advanced.
“Restoration of the abandoned fields at Coyote Ridge Natural
Area to a native prairie will increase the habitat value of the
site and will ultimately increase the diversity of wildlife,”
Bachand said.
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