Prescribed burns set to start at Pt. Pelee

Visitors to Point Pelee National Park may encounter closedoff areas over the next month and a half as Parks Canada conducts controlled fires.

In an effort to restore the park’s “globally rare savannah ecosystem,” prescribed burns are scheduled to begin Monday and will take place “when conditions are favourable” until April 15, according to a news release from Parks Canada. Organization spokesperson Sarah Simpson said Monday rainfall will likely postpone the burns until next week.

The park will remain open to visitors during the fires, but “some areas will be closed for short periods of time to ensure the safety of visitors and team members,” the release said.

About 13 hectares of the park will undergo burns, including Anders Field, Delaurier, Cactus Field, Sleepy Hollow, and along the southern portion of the western shoreline. Fires will only be initiated “when the environmental and weather conditions are suitable.”

While some smoke will be visible, team members are to monitor wind conditions and “direct smoke away from publicly used areas to the extent possible.”

The fires are part of the park’s Lake Erie Sand Spit Savannah restoration project, and help to release nutrients, reduce the number of exotic plants present, prevent the spread of invading shrubs and trees, encourage native seed germination, and improve habitat for species at risk.

“Fire is an important natural process in restoring healthy, resilient ecosystems that support a variety of birds, butterflies and species at risk which depend on open, sunny savannah habitat to survive,” the release said.