Controlled burn at Stratford Point!

It took over a year and a half, but after countless meetings, tons of permits, and a great deal of planning, Connecticut Audubon Society, site owner DuPont, the town of Stratford, and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection finally completed a controlled burn of Stratford Point's grasslands this past Tuesday, February 28. CT DEEP staff from the Forestry Division executed the burn on approximately 20 acres of the 28 acre site to absolute perfection. This incredibly professional effort took place only after the weather conditions were correct, including wind out of the westerly direction (northwest on the day) to push the smoke out to the Long Island Sound and keep the fire moving away residences on neighboring streets.

All grasslands, like the coastal grasslands of Stratford Point, have to be intensely managed or else vegetational succession will mean it quickly progresses to scrub land and ultimately forest. Mowing and grazing are common practices used to maintain the grassland state though they are far from perfect solutions. Historically the Connecticut coastline featured sizable grasslands carved by fires from lightning strikes that would clear an area here or there every few years.

Fire is the preferred management strategy today as well as it allows for the removal of nearly all above-ground vegetation without the accumulation of downed vegetation on the ground (which can cause problems because it creates habitat for unwanted mammals and may hinder the regrowth of new shoots in spring) and it does not leave the site with excessive nutrients from all the biomass that is left to rot. Most sensitive plant species in the state require nutrient poor soils - which are hard to come by nowadays with the massive amounts of fertilizers used everywhere. It also does not result in the soil compression resulting from mowers or grazers and helps to clear out all invasive and non-native plant species.

Here are two videos of the burn followed by a lot of photos I snapped throughout the burn to guide you through the process. Remember to enlarge the video with the button in the lower right of the video frame if you like or click through the links to watch them on the Vimeo site. Part one features the burn test to start the day followed by total burn of the Long Island Sound side of Stratford Point. Part two has even more ferocious flames as the main upland section is burned after a slow back burn against the wind to give some space between the structures and the fire.

 

Pre-burn meeting with CT DEEP, CAS, Stratford Fire Department and town officials, media, and more

 

 

 Walking the site - picking up litter, looking at what trees to avoid burning, and here clearing a bit of brush around the Prickly Pear Cactus marked by flagging behind the small cedar to protect it

 

CAS Conservation Biologist Twan Leenders in full CT DEEP Forestry gear to take photos up close and personal during the burn - look for them in our next blog entry!

 Brown-looking grasslands before the burn

 Test burn of a small area to see how the fire acted, where the smoke went, and continued weather measurements

 Smoke billowing out from test area towards Long Island Sound as fire burns in the same direction - perfect!

 It quickly became obvious to a controlled burn newcomer like myself that there was going to be a lot of smoke as this was only a small area

 After a successful test burn most of the Long Island Sound side of Stratford Point was up for a full burn, and drip torches lit it from multiple sides

 

These fires quickly progressed from the edges and burned towards the Sound with the wind pushing them

 

There were some hot spots and fireballs like this one as it rapidly consumed vegetation

 This Bald Eagle fly-by, perhaps a migrant heading back to the north, momentarily distracted us and thrilled the non-birders

 Here the DEEP crew lights the other side of this portion of the grasslands

The fire left blackened earth in its wake...

 

 ...as you can really see here looking towards the mouth of the Housatonic River

 What an enormous and unbelievable plume of smoke going safely over the water

 

 Scorched to the Sound

 

 

 Preparing for the largest burn of the day of the main grasslands area on the back or western section of the site

 Back burning begin in the area behind the structures and nearest the driveway for safety purposes

 This is back burning with the fire progressing against the wind slowly and away from structures - see how the flames are bent by the strong westerly flow

 Even just this portion of the burn produced an impressive sight

 Wildlife Habitat Management Area indeed! The best management practices at work right there, and it was time to light even more of the area...

 The edge of the large area being lit by drip torch

  These flames got large, fast! The videos above provide much more footage of the largest flames as I could not take photos and video simultaneously

 Even larger flames about to go by the American Kestrel box (which was empty!)

 The speed of the fire roaring through the fuels and biomass on the ground left it untouched as expected

In a little less than four minutes this entire area had burned through

 A member of CT DEEP alone in the ashes in what appears to be a far away and remote place, not coastal Connecticut

 

 Smoke then dissipating as it went towards the Stratford Lighthouse

 

 Burned to a crisp

All that was left to burn was this isolated area surrounded by pavement, and it was lit in a single spot in the center so that we could watch the progression from this one point, first in a circle then expanding outward

 This fire still moved rapidly...

 

...as intense flames consumed all up to the pavement showing how this unnatural barrier prevented it from spreading anywhere else

 Another fireball of sorts

 

The flames reached impressive heights here as once again the location did not resemble the Stratford Point I know

The flames subsided but still covered the lighthouse in smoke

 But not for long...

Now that the burn has been completed we will move into the next phase of habitat restoration and creation at Stratford Point. This will include planting a good deal of woody vegetation in upland areas, some native grasses, as well as some state-listed species like Prickly Pear Cactus while continuing our constant survey and monitoring efforts and much more. We will discuss some of the general plans and the funding received for much of this upcoming work by Connecticut Audubon Society and Sacred Heart University in a later post as we head into the spring planting season. If you thought Stratford Point was a wonderful piece of habitat and great birding destination you have not seen anything yet.



Scott Kruitbosch
Conservation Technician

  
All videos and photos © Scott Kruitbosch and not to be reproduced without explicit permission