Fall 2004 Burn Report

In the fall, burn bosses wait for dry vegetation to coincide with dry weather. McHenry County only had these conditions on six days in November 2004.

A late freeze and lots of rain curtailed Lake County Forest Preserves’ plans to burn 2,500 acres. They did, however, achieve several controlled burns on high-priority sites. In oak woodlands at both Old School and Independence Grove preserves in Libertyville, burns helped prepare the sites for further restoration after 130 acres of buckthorn thickets had been removed. “Since most native seeds germinate best when snugly surrounded by soil, it was important to ‘clean’ years of thatch buildup before seeding,” said Ken Klick, restoration ecologist. “These burns effectively recycled years of thatch and created the perfect seedbed. And to boot, the fire removed countless buckthorn seedlings.”

— Allison Carney Brown