Prescribed Burn in the Buxton Pollinator Meadow

What are the Benefits of a Carefully Controlled, Prescribed Burn?

2022 Prescribed Burn Plan

Our hope is to implement the prescribed fire in late September this year (no earlier than September 26th), but this will depend entirely on adequate fall rains and approval from the fire safety professionals at BIFD.

We will have two burn units, each roughly ¾ acre in size, and each unit will be surrounded by a thick strip of mowed vegetation that will not carry fire, as well as BIFD hose lines laid entirely around the areas to be burned. These small unit sizes, in combination with a careful consideration of prevailing winds and atmospheric conditions, will result in minimal and short-lived smoke impacts on the neighborhood. We will leave roughly 55% of the meadow untreated (not mowed or burned), allowing it to stand overwinter for bird and insect habitat.

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2021 Burn Attempt

The prescribed burn took place at Bloedel Reserve on Tuesday, October 19, 2021. We had great success in taking all the steps necessary for implementing a controlled fire, and the experience was deeply valuable for the future of our pollinator meadow. However, despite valiant, repeated ignition efforts, the meadow was too wet and green to burn. Fall rains have promoted our summer-dormant meadow plants to start growing again, and those live plants were holding too much water to be capable of carrying fire. We didn’t get the fire behavior we wanted, but we did learn a great deal from this attempt and are well set up to try again next year.

Kitsap Sun Article, by Nathan Pilling

Prescribed fire is a commonly used tool in meadow management that yields important outcomes.

As you may know, the Buxton Bird Marsh and Pollinator Meadow is Bloedel Reserve’s newest garden feature. Our primary goals for this landscape are to support robust, diverse wildlife and pollinator populations, and to provide visitors with a colorful, layered tableau of meadow flowers and grasses in the spring and summer. In order to meet these goals, during the month of October we are implementing small-scale, experimental prescribed burns on the meadow interior.

Removal of woody plants that encroach and over time convert meadows into woodlands.
Control of undesirable and invasive species, which are often less adapted to fire than the desirable species in our meadow.
Release of nutrients for more vigorous plant growth and in turn, more wildlife use and diversity.
Preparation of the seed bed for increased germination rates.

With the full support of the Bainbridge Island Fire Department (BIFD) Bloedel Reserve is conducting a prescribed burn in two main areas of the wildflower meadow: one roughly ¾ acre and the other about ¼ acre in size. Each area is surrounded by a wide strip of mowed vegetation that will not carry fire in order to protect the surrounding vegetation. We will leave about 65% of the meadow untreated (un-mowed or burned), allowing it to stand overwinter for bird and insect habitat.

Answers to questions you may have:

Q) How long will the burn take?
A) The burn itself will take less than two hours, but Gardens South will be closed for one full day in order to prepare the site and complete post-fire procedures.

Q) Will wildlife be negatively impacted?
A) Although there may be some direct mortality, most insects, small mammals, birds and amphibians will be able to escape the small burn units before being harmed. The effects of the fire are expected to boost wildlife diversity and productivity over time.

Q) Will the air be smoky?
A) For a brief time in the immediate vicinity of the meadow, the air will be smoky. Conditions in the upper atmosphere will be closely monitored on the day of the burn to ensure that smoke will dissipate quickly.

Q) How long will the Meadow take to regenerate after the burn?
A) The portions of the meadow that are burned will support low-growing green meadow plants throughout the winter and spring, until the seed we disperse germinates and a new crop of wildflowers and native grasses are established in early summer. We do not expect bare ground to be present for more than a few weeks following the fire.

For more information on how prescribed fire is used for prairie restoration and meadow management, please see the following links:

South Puget Sound Prairie Restoration:

http://www.southsoundprairies.org/home/?currentPage=2