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Creating healthy habitats takes many different conservation tools. For almost 100 years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has used prescribed fire to reduce burnable vegetation and remove invasive plant species, which lessens the risk of wildfire and improves habitat for wildlife.
At Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, refuge managers are planning to use a prescribed fire to restore wet prairie habitat. The prescribed fire is expected to increase the amount and diversity of native plant species, improving habitat for native wildlife. Over 200 species of birds rely on the refuge, as well as deer, river otters, newts, and other animals that call the refuge home.
“Our priority is safety during this prescribed fire,” said Rebecca Gómez Chuck, project leader for the Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Refuge managers are working with fire management specialists to ensure community safety and maximize the effectiveness of the burn for both habitat and wildlife. Before any prescribed fire takes place, fire management specialists, firefighters and refuge managers work together to create a prescribed fire plan, a detailed prescription for where, when and how a fire will be used to restore habitat. This includes strict safety measures, such as a pre- and post- burn monitoring plan and identifying the ideal weather and wind conditions for the prescribed fire to take place. Because of the important role weather plays, managers identify a burn window – a specific length of time during which a prescribed fire might take place. The official day of the fire is not set until a day or few days before, to ensure optimum conditions for the prescribed fire.
“The refuge is planning for the prescribed fire to take place sometime in the next few weeks, the specified day or days have not yet been identified,” said Chuck. The public can reference the refuge website or Portland-Vancouver National Wildlife Refuges Facebook page for updates on the when the prescribed fire will take place. The refuge trails will be closed to visitors during the prescribed fire.
