Using fire: Forums, field tour about prescribed burns begin April 11 in Bloomington

Careful, controlled fire can be beneficial to south-central Indiana lands. Landowners can learn more about using prescribed burns to maintain forest and grassland biodiversity in two forums and one field trip to Griffy Lake Nature Preserve in Bloomington.

While anyone interested can attend, the topics will be geared to landowners, according to Michael Spalding, the Southern Indiana Sentinel Landscape program coordinator at the Conservation Law Center in Bloomington. The history of prescribed burns dating back to pre-settlement times as well as when to use controlled burns will be addressed.

The forums will be 6-8 p.m. April 11 at Upland Brewing , 350 W. 11th St. in Bloomington and 6-8 p.m. April 18 at Upland Brewing , 148 Lindsey St., Columbus. An expert with Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment will talk about the use of prescribed fire as a tool and compare it with other land management practices. At the Bloomington forum, an official with the Sam Shine Foundation will discuss the ecology of fire. At the Columbus event, someone from Niches Land Trust in Lafayette will speak.

The field trip will be 9-11 a.m. April 13 at Griffy Lake Nature Preserve. Participants should meet in the parking lot next to the dam, not at the boathouse. The hike will feature the 9-acre area of the preserve on the north shore of Griffy Lake that was burned in November 2023.

There will be time for questions at all three events.

Spalding recently hiked the trail through Griffy Lake's burned area where he found spring wildflowers, including trout lily. He said the fire reduced the understory growth in the mature oak forest, giving oak and hickory saplings a better chance of survival. The open understory beneath the shaded overstory of trees is the ideal condition preferred by red-headed woodpeckers, he explained.

To register for a forum or the field tour, go to https://tinyurl.com/4hxzmvdk . Tickets range from $5 for the field tour only to $15 for an evening program with dinner and the field tour.

Contact Carol Kugler at ckugler@heraldt.com

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Using fire: Forums, field tour about prescribed burns begin April 11 in Bloomington