ERCA burning Spring Garden Natural Area to maintain prairie ecosystem

The Spring Garden Natural Area in west Windsor will be up in flames Monday and Tuesday.

An estimated 19 hectares of the city-owned property will be scorched as part of a prescribed burn.

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"Continued burning is necessary in order to maintain a healthy and diverse ecosystem in the Ojibway Prairie area, which is the largest stand of tallgrass prairie remaining in Ontario," stated the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA).

Similar burns have been held over the past 30 years, but this particular region is being treated with fire for the first time.

"Theprescribed burn is a requirement under the permitting process that the Ministry of Transportation got from the Ministry of Natural Resources to put in the Herb GrayParkway," said DanLebedyk,a conservation biologist with ERCA.

WatchLebedykdescribe why the burn is necessary, and how it's done:

Controlled burns by ERCA

7 years ago

Duration 0:58

Conservation biologist Dan Lebedyk explains why ERCA conducts controlled burns.

Lebedyksaid a portion of the habitat was impacted by the new highway and this burn is part of the maintenance work that had to be done to satisfy requirements.

The fires burn the ground cover very slowly, said Lebedyk, but crews will be finished on Tuesday.

Neighbours have been advised to expect smoke.