The Town of Normal will be conducting a prescribed burn for the pond at Blackstone Trails and for the creek section at the Northwest corner of Shelbourne and Linden Ave on March 15, 2023. The burns will begin at 9:30 a.m. and are expected to take 4-6 hours. Burns will be completed by the end of the day on Wednesday March 15, 2023.
Traffic will not be impacted but drivers are urged to use caution when traveling through the area.
A prescribed burn is the use of fire as a management tool in a carefully planned and controlled manner. This season, the Town of Normal plans to use prescribed fire to manage recently planted prairie areas. This fire will help maintain local native plant communities and promote the ecological development of this prairie restoration area.
Prescribed burn management is an efficient and economical tool that reduces the amount of pesticides that otherwise may be needed to control invasive plants. Without management, natural areas often become thickets of shrubs or weeds with little diversity. A prescribed burn promotes species diversity by burning off invasive plants and dead vegetation. The fire stimulates new plant growth by enriching the soil with nutrients and allowing sunlight to warm the soil, encouraging germination.
Research shows that fire is a natural part of native Illinois ecosystems. These landscapes need to be burned periodically in order to stay healthy and to provide habitat for native plants and animals.
All persons who conduct prescribed burns are specially trained, equipped, and supervised. The fire department has been notified and all permits have been obtained to do this work.
