Prescribed burn planned for Lyonia Preserve

Weather conditions are favorable in upcoming weeks for a prescribed burn in Lyonia Preserve, Deltona. The five-acre burn, which will be conducted by Volusia County Land Management, will take place on the east side of Providence Road. No trail closures are anticipated.

Prescribed burns are weather dependent with advance notice typically provided 48 hour or less in advance.

The burn will restore and maintain habitat for scrub wildlife, which includes Florida scrub jays and gopher tortoises.

Historically, nature provided all the tools needed to maintain healthy habitats of natural lands. With the advent of fire suppression, fragmentation due to development, exotic species and user impacts, most natural lands are overgrown. Human intervention is now needed to provide the factors necessary for a healthy habitat.

To restore and maintain the diversity of the ecosystems, prescribed fire is one of the many tools Volusia County uses to manage conservation lands. Prescribed fire has many benefits, such as eliminating dry and overgrown vegetation, reducing the risk of wildfires, increasing seeding, fruiting and forage quality in plants, and improving wildlife habitats. While other land management treatments are sometimes used, prescribed fire is the most effective because of the complex chemical, biological and physical processes that fire stimulates.

For more information about prescribed burns, visit volusia.org/prescribed-burning.