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| Picture of fire consuming the saw palmetto understory of the sand pine scrub forest. | Picture of fire consuming the vegetative understory in a marked zone of the pine flat woods. |
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| Picture of a Park Ranger lighting a strip of fire using a drip torch for a prescribed burn. | Picture of the final stage of a prescribed burn with consumed vegetation, burning snags and smoke. |
Pyrodiversity Produces Biodiversity Stepping Up to the Challenge of Aerial Ignition In A 30-Year Rough
Prescribed burning is one of the most valuable tools used for natural resource management in a large, ecologically diverse park such as Dunns Creek. The park is comprised of more than 20 distinct “natural communities” and is home to more than 500 different plant species.
Fire-dependent natural communities, including pine flatwoods, sandhill and scrub, support species such as the gopher tortoise, fox squirrel, and the carnivorous pitcher-plant. Such unique plants and animals are adversely affected if the quality of their habitat declines. Because the park is a recent addition to the state park system, some areas had not been burned by natural or prescribed fire in a very long time.
On February 21, 2004, the staff of Dunns Creek conducted a large and relatively complex prescribed burn. Using a helicopter and the PREMO aerial ignition device, nearly 700 acres of overgrown flatwoods were safely and successfully burned. Use of aerial ignition allows the burn crew to safely and efficiently introduce fire into areas were access is otherwise difficult. The park staff was very pleased with the results. Reduced fuels will reduce the risk of a catastrophic wildfire, greatly improve the health of the park’s natural communities, and help to maintain the diversity that makes Dunns Creek State Park an exceptional natural area.
