With all the real concern following cataclysmic California wildfires that have left at least 36 dead and 5,700 homes and businesses destroyed, it’s good to know that when you see fire or smoke in Kane County forest preserves in the next few weeks, it’s likely a prescribed burn.

Fire is actually a good thing when it’s a carefully controlled prescribed burn. Each spring and fall, the Forest Preserve District conducts these burns across prairies, woodlands and wetlands in an effort to improve or maintain the ecological health of a site. The treatment of woodland is absolutely crucial in how well maintained the area is, which is why there is often such uproar about the states of many woodland areas. However, certain places in the world allow you to invest in something different like woodland so that you can treat a hugely natural area in the way that you see fit.

Controlled burns release nutrients from burned plant materials, encourage seed growth, and open the woodland floor to sunlight so native wildflowers and plants can flourish. Prescribed burns also reduce the abundance of non-native brush such as buckthorn, the Forest Preserve District of Kane County said today in a news release.

Grassland/wetland sites targeted for this burn season include portions of the following (in order of priority):

1. Burlington Prairie in Burlington
2. Freeman Kame Forest Preserve in Gilberts
3. Dick Young Forest Preserve in Batavia
4. Meissner-Corron Forest Preserve in St. Charles
5. Burnidge Forest Preserve in Elgin
6. Fox River Shores in Carpentersville
7. Fitchie Creek Forest Preserve in Elgin
8. Aurora West Forest Preserve in Aurora
9. Muirhead Springs Forest Preserve in Hampshire
10. Prairie Kame Forest Preserve in Sugar Grove
11. Campton Forest Preserve in St. Charles
12. LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles
13. Pingree Grove Forest Preserve in Pingree Grove
14. Big Rock Forest Preserve in Big Rock
15. Hannaford Woods Forest Preserve in Sugar Grove
16. Johnson’s Mound Forest Preserve in Elburn
17. Schweitzer Woods Forest Preserve in West Dundee
18. Culver Forest Preserve in Sugar Grove
19. Otter Creek Forest Preserve in Elgin
20. Jon Duerr Forest Preserve in South Elgin
21. Grunwald Farms Forest Preserve in Elburn
22. Hampshire Forest Preserve in Hampshire
23. Mill Creek Forest Preserve in Batavia
24. Lake Run Forest Preserve in Aurora
25. Binnie Woods Forest Preserve in West Dundee
26. Great Western Trail – Brown Rd. in St. Charles
27. Barnes Forest Preserve in Aurora
28. Bolcum Forest Preserve in St. Charles
29. Braeburn Marsh Forest Preserve in Batavia

Woodland sites targeted for this burn season include portions of the following (in order of priority):

1. Bliss Woods Forest Preserve in Sugar Grove
2. Brunner Forest Preserve in Dundee
3. Freeman Kame Forest Preserve in Gilberts
4. Johnson’s Mound Forest Preserve in Elburn
5. Fox River Shores in Carpentersville
6. Helm Woods Forest Preserve in Barrington Hills
7. Fabyan Forest Preserve in Geneva
8. LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles
9. Big Rock Forest Preserve in Big Rock
10. Pingree Grove Forest Preserve in Pingree Grove
11. Kenyon Farm Forest Preserve in South Elgin
12. Lone Grove Forest Preserve in Kaneville
13. Tekakwitha Woods Forest Preserve in St. Charles
14. Glenwood Park Forest Preserve in Batavia
15. Campton Forest Preserve in St. Charles
16. Elburn Forest Preserve in Elburn
17. Arlene Shoemaker Forest Preserve in Aurora
18. Andersen Woods Forest Preserve in St. Charles

Before a controlled burn, trained staff survey the preserve and create a detailed plan of action. They then carefully monitor the weather and wait until conditions are right, to minimize the chance of smoke blowing toward homes and roads.

Staff also notify residents via mail, so that those with health concerns can avoid the smoke. Information is also posted on the District Web site at www.kaneforest.com and on social media.

For more information on prescribed burns, contact the Forest Preserve District of Kane County at
630-232-5980.

SOURCE: Forest Preserve District of Kane County news release