Moores Creek National Battlefield Prescribed Fire Used To Rehabilitate Landscape and Control Invasive Species
Moores Creek National Battlefield is rehabilitating a 5-acre wet-pine savanna to bring it closer in appearance to the likely landscape at the time of the 1776 Battle of Moores Creek Bridge. The savanna is also home to several state threatened/endangered plant species including Carolina bogmint. The area was ditched for drainage in the 1930s so that vehicle traffic could reach the edge of the battlefield. The savanna was managed for turf grasses through the late 1980s, but sweetgum and blackberry were invasive.
The current project began in 1996, with the first four years spent establishing baseline data for water and plant species. Prescribed fire is being used successfully to control the invasive plants in order to establish and increase the abundance of characteristically dominant savanna bunch grasses such as wiregrass (Aristida stricta), savanna muhly (Muhlenbergia expansa), Carolina dropseed (Sporobolis pinetorum), and toothache grass (Ctenium aromaticum).
Three burns have been carried out in cooperation with the North Carolina Forest Service, with the most recent taking place on February 14, 2006. More than 25,000 bunchgrass plugs have been planted since the initial burn in November 2003. Dozens of volunteers have assisted in the replanting efforts.
Contact: Ann Childress, Superintendent Phone: (910) 283-5591
Knife River Indian Villages NHS
by John Moeykens
Moores Creek National Battlefield Park profile pages
The current project began in 1996, with the first four years spent establishing baseline data for water and plant species. Prescribed fire is being used successfully to control the invasive plants in order to establish and increase the abundance of characteristically dominant savanna bunch grasses such as wiregrass (Aristida stricta), savanna muhly (Muhlenbergia expansa), Carolina dropseed (Sporobolis pinetorum), and toothache grass (Ctenium aromaticum).
