Wildlands brings prescribed fire back to Maple Tract Preserve
For the first time in nearly a century, Wildlands conducted a controlled burn on just over 30 acres of remnant mesic till barrens to revive fire‑dependent plants and slow forest reversion.
By Molly Bilinski
For the first time in nearly a century, Wildlands Conservancy has brought fire back to Maple Tract Preserve.
Wildlands last fall held a prescribed burn on a little over 30-acre portion of the remnant mesic till barrens, an ultra-rare ecosystem within the preserve that’s home to several species of trees and shrubs that are dependent on fire.
“Some of the properties that we protect have unicorns on them,” Carl Martin, Wildlands’ director of property stewardship, said. “But the unicorn only stays there if the habitat is maintained. If the habitat changes, the unicorn will leave — that’s what’s happening with these barrens.”
Maple Tract Preserve stretches almost 700 acres, including seven trails through unique wetland habitat, with access to Tunkhannock Creek. Within the preserve, there’s a mesic till barren, a rare ecosystem due to its geological makeup and loamy soil, made up of clay and sand. Reserachers describe the area as “especially species-rich,” holding the highest concentration of globally rare plant and animal species in Pennsylvania.
Part of the larger southern Pocono Plateau, it was created when glaciers scraped across the landscape, retreating 10,000 years ago. The geology required to support the mesic till barrens historically extended about 6,000 acres across the plateau, according to researchers. Over time, and accelerated by a lack of fire, forest reversion has caused the barrens to shrink, with current estimates showing only about 10% remain.
Fire as land management
Historically, fire, whether natural or created by people for land management, has been part of the Poconos since the glaciers retreated, including the barrens Wildlands stewards within Maple Tract. Some of the barrens’ common shrubs are so flammable that local firefighters and other
residents have nicknamed at least one, but maybe more, “kerosene bush,” one study notes.
“The Poconos, in fact, burned very, very often,” Martin said. “Started by nature — lightning strikes and whatnot — later by man, meaning Native Americans, and then, even after that, by colonial influence.”
However, a shift in public perception towards fire suppression for nearly a century has negatively impacted the landscape, putting the rare habitat, and the species that depend on it, at risk of disappearing. A soil core sample shows a bottom layer of sand, covered by ash and, at the top, between 50 to 80 years of organic material.
“What’s changing is the plant communities,” he said. “Once you start to have a forest overtake the barrens, the fire is no longer keeping it out … When we took [fire] away, we allowed the forest to succeed.”
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A science and an art
In order to work towards restoring the barrens, Wildlands held a prescribed burn — a land management tool deployed under strict conditions to excise encroaching species of trees and shrubs, in this case giving space for fire-dependent and -tolerant species, like pitch pine, scrub oak, rhodora, sedge and lowbrush blueberries, to flourish.
“If we don’t manage these places for the habitat type that is required for these rare species, then we’re going to lose them,” he said.
Fire can be as natural as sunshine and rain, Martin explained, especially for the barrens. However, campaigns over the last 80 years, like Smokey Bear, have cast fire as a largely negative, destructive force for the environment. With the paradigm shift, fire-dependent landscapes, like the barrens, have suffered.
“What happens to your garden when you don’t water it for 80 years, or don’t give it sunlight for a couple days? Well, that’s what we’ve done by not allowing fire to run through our landscapes,” Martin said. “ … The forest has been allowed to invade places, and these very rare systems are even more rare now because they’re being lost to plain Jane forest.”
Wildlands contracted with Silvix Forestry & Prescribed Fire, a Lititz-based company, to complete the burn. Silvix’s owner, Shannon Henry, has 30 years of experience in land management and prescribed burns, and has also served on the Pennsylvania Prescribed Fire Council.
“There’s definitely a science side to it, and then there’s an art side to it,” Henry said. “ … If you’re doing this correctly, there’s an extensive amount of effort put into planning these events.”
That’s the big difference between a wildfire and a prescribed burn, Henry explained. While the former can be natural or man-made, the latter is a planned event, with weather conditions, like temperature, humidity and wind speeds, as well as other factors taken into account, for the purpose of land management.
Like the name suggests, a prescribed burn is just that — a prescription, a guideline for treatment, and a tool for recovery.
Evidence of the burn was clear at the site. The trunks of pitch pine trees were blackened with scorch marks, and charred pinecones littered the brush amid the stand of trees. Those pinecones, packed with resin, require the high temperatures from fire in order to go to seed. Photos by Steve Miller
Prescribed fire across Pennsylvania
Over the last several decades, and especially after the Prescribed Burning Practices Act was signed into state law in 2009, controlled burns have become more common across Pennsylvania.
Todd Breininger, prescribed fire specialist with the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, echoed Henry, underscoring both the art and science involved in a controlled burn.
“When we’re going to burn an area, we have a pretty detailed burn plan, and it’s got specific weather parameters and fire behavior parameters,” said Breininger, who also serves as secretary of the Pennsylvania Prescribed Fire Council. “And there’s lots of thought that goes into that when we want to burn.”
Last year, across the commonwealth, there were 398 prescribed fires, according to data from the DCNR, totaling more than 16,000 acres.
Usually, when residents hear about a fire, it’s when something bad is happening, both Henry and Breininger said, like news coverage of homes burning amid massive walls of uncontrolled flames. With prescribed fires, that’s just not the case.
“A lot of times, we’re using lower heat intensity and flame intensity,” Breininger said. “We’re not usually burning with real big walls of fire running around everywhere.”
Plans for Maple Tract’s future
A single prescribed fire isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, for Maple Tract’s barrens or for other ecosystems across the state.
“I love fire, but fire is not the magical bullet,” Breininger said. “Fire is just another tool that we have as resource managers to manage the resources out there … It’s not going to work all the time, and sometimes it’s going to take multiple treatments.”
Asked if we’re moving in the right direction when it comes to prescribed fires, Henry said, “I think we’re getting there,” if slowly.
Following the burn, Martin and other Wildlands’ stewards will study the effects on the barren, like how the fire changed vegetation. From there, they’ll form a plan to continue restoration efforts and maintain the rare habitat into the future. Consistent prescribed burns will be required every few years to support fire-dependent species.
Wildlands Conservancy acknowledges the support of its giving community, especially the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Robert F. Schumann Foundation, as well as private donations, for making the stewardship of the Mesic Till Barrens at our Maple Tract Preserve possible.
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About Molly Bilinski
Molly Bilinski is an award-winning journalist and storyteller based in Monroe County. She’s written for the Spotlight PA, LehighValleyNews.com, The Morning Call, The Press of Atlantic City, and the Reading Eagle, among others. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found reading, baking, or out exploring the many parks, trails, and preserves in the Poconos and the Lehigh Valley. Find her on Instagram and LinkedIn.
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