Wet, Cold Weather Limits Fall 2002 Burn Season

The hustle and hard work of the Lake County Forest Preserves and the Forest Preserve District of Will County (FPDWC) burn teams paid off. Despite wet and cold weather, they each managed to conduct controlled burns on more than 300 acres last fall. Many agencies were unable to burn at all, and Cook and Kendall Counties get credit for 32 and 20 acres respectively.

"We were ready the first week of November," said Brad Woodson, an ecologist with the McHenry County Conservation District, "but everything was too green and it stayed warm and green a long time. Then the door slammed shut, and it was cold and wet." The district had planned to burn ten sites totaling 1,500 acres. "We're now planning for a busy spring," Woodson said.

A few districts tried to continue controlled burns through the winter. "We turned over any and all stones this burn season, " reported Dave Mauger, FPDWC natural resource manager. "On January 13, it was sub-freezing, but the fuel was dry and we got it to burn."

Drew Ullberg, director of planning for the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, spoke for many when he said, "We haven't totally given up, but as it stands now, big goose egg." We hope to have better conditions and positive reports next spring.

—  Alison Carney Brown

Agency	Acres Burned	% of Natural Acres Held
Cook FPD	32	0.0005%
DuPage FPD	20	0.0009%
Kane FPD	0	0%
Kendall FPD	20	0.036%
Lake FPD	311	0.013%
McHenry FPD	0	0%
Will FPD	307	0.02%