Real Estate 101: By the agent who lives here, plays here, owns here!
Prescribed Fires are Good Fires
As one of the most important natural agents of change, fire plays a vital role in maintaining certain ecosystems. Prescribed fire reintroduces the beneficial effects of fire into an ecosystem, producing the kinds of vegetation and landscapes we want, and reducing the hazard of catastrophic wildfire caused by excessive fuel buildup. What is a Prescribed Fire? Prescribed Fire, also known as a controlled burn, refers to the controlled application of fire by a team of fire experts under specified weather conditions that help restore health to fire-adapted environments. By safely reducing excessive amounts of brush, shrubs, and trees, encouraging the new growth of native vegetation, and maintaining the many plant and animal species whose habitats depend on periodic fire, prescribed burning helps reduce the catastrophic damage of wildfire on our lands and surrounding communities. Prescribed fire is one of the most effective tools we have in preventing the
outbreak and spread of wildfires. But because prescribed fire is fire, fire management experts are extremely careful in planning and executing a prescribed fire.
Did you know fire can be good for the land?
After many years of fire exclusion, an ecosystem that needs periodic fire becomes unhealthy. Trees are stressed by overcrowding; fire-dependent species disappear; and flammable fuels build up and become hazardous. The right fire at the right place at the right time:
- Reduces hazardous fuels, protecting human communities from extreme
fires; - Minimizes the spread of pest insects and disease;
- Removes unwanted species that threaten species native to an ecosystem;
- Provides forage for game;
- Improves habitat for threatened and endangered species;
- Recycles nutrients back to the soil; and
- Promotes the growth of trees, wildflowers, and other plants.
Reproduced with permission from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control. Need more information or have an idea or topic? Give me a call!
Rebecca A. Guthrie, Broker / Owner (970) 485-4141 [email protected]
