County plans prescribed burn in Barberville

Posted On: June 30, 2023

Conditions are favorable for Volusia County Land Management staff to conduct a 52-acre prescribed burn today, June 30, in the Barberville Conservation Area.

The burn will take place a half mile east of U.S. 17 and one mile north of State Road 40. Objectives of the burn include maintaining fire dependent ecosystems and reducing wildland fuel loads. Ignition will begin at about 10 a.m. There will be no impact to public use.  

For more information about the burn, call the Resource Stewardship Division at 386-943-7081.

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.

Learn more about prescribed burns at volusia.org/prescribed-burning.