NPS photo.

Big Cypress National Preserve has one of the largest fire programs within the National Park Service.

Click here for current fire activities within the Preserve and related closures.

Big Cypress National Preserve is an area born of fire. During the transition between winter’s dry season and the summer’s rainy season frequent lighting strikes would often start natural fires. These fires have encouraged growth, over time, of many plant communities adapted to fire. Recognizing the value of fire in the ecosystem, preserve managers now use prescribed burning to maintain these fire dependent communities.

At one time the National Park Service (NPS) put out all fires. This policy reflected the public sentiment that all fire was bad. That was before we discovered the beneficial attributes of the natural fire regime. Once we gained a true appreciation of the role of fire in forest ecology, the NPS modified our fire policies.

According to the new policies NPS fire crews would suppress, or put out, all structural and arson fires, or those fires that caused a direct threat to life and property. However, lightning caused fires would be allowed burn if the weather conditions were right – a prescribed natural fire. If weather conditions did not allow for a controllable situation the fire crews would suppress the fire – a “wildfire”. Fire crews also start fires under the correct weather conditions to assist with the natural cycle – a prescribed fire.

The Big Cypress Fire Management Plan identifies objectives of the prescribed fire management program (management ignited and natural) as:

·     Reduce hazard fuel accumulations in the backcountry, around improvements, and along major roadside corridors.
·     Manage wildlife habitat for game, non-game, protected, and rare species.
·     Research the ecological role of fire in the Preserve’s varied ecosystem.
·     Control exotic plant species.
·     Protect selected cultural and natural resources that are fire intolerant.
·     Meet operation needs such as vista clearing and debris removal.

What is prescribed burning?
It is the process of using lightning started fire, or a fire ignited on purpose, as a tool for vegetation management. When humidity levels, air temperatures, and fuel conditions are ideal, fire managers set a slow burning, low to moderate intensity fire to remove selected vegetation. Likewise, if a lightning fire starts and specific conditions exist, the fire will be monitored but may not be aggressively fought. Big Cypress National Preserve has the largest prescribed burning program in the National Park Service, typically burning more than 20,000 acres annually.

Why do prescribed burning?
Natural lightning fires were a regular feature of the land before development of roads and human settlements. Now, when lightning fires start, they can threaten human life and homes. Prescribed fire allows us to manage the natural process under a more controlled situation than a wild fire would permit. Vegetation has evolved with fire. If allowed to accumulate, excessive fuel buildup results in extremely hot, catastrophic fire that may damage soil and prevent native plants from regenerating. Prescribed fire reduces fuel buildup. Its effects are selective and predictable, releasing nutrients back into the ecosystem.

What habitats benefit from prescribed burning?
Sawgrass prairies/marshes and pinelands benefit from burning. Many pine, flower and grass seeds flourish best just after a relatively moderate fire has swept through, releasing nutrients that allow these fire adapted plants to grow. Many plant species flower prolifically after fire. Additionally, many animals benefit from areas that have burned. Some species, such as the red-cockaded woodpecker, thrive in forests that depend on fire.

Big Cypress National Preserve Fire Management Plan