View - News 8 Austin’s TV coverage of the burn is provided courtesy News 8 Austin and Time Warner Cable.

The Conservancy conducted a 100-acre prescribed burn at Barton Creek Habitat Preserve in southwest Austin this spring. The fire was carried out by Conservancy fire personnel in cooperation with fire personnel from the City of Austin Water Utility.

The purpose of the burn was to improve habitat for the endangered black-capped vireos that nest on the preserve. “Many native animals and plants in the Texas Hill Country evolved with the presence of periodic fires,” said Dan Snodgrass, the Conservancy’s Edwards Plateau senior land steward. “These fires served an ecological purpose of keeping grasslands comparatively free from encroachment of shrubs – like Ashe juniper, also called ‘cedar’ – and creating a more open grassland savannah.”

For example, Snodgrass said, “black-capped vireos require a habitat of open grassland interspersed with brush. Prescribed fire invigorates the native grasses, and keeps the shrubs from taking over.” The prescribed burn will reduce vegetation fuel loads which will help reduce dangers from fires that could be caused by lightning strikes or accidentally by humans.

To address safety issues, Conservancy fire personnel undergo extensive training and are experienced in wildland firefighting, Snodgrass said, adding that “all Conservancy prescribed burns are meticulously planned, taking into account the weather and other factors, and that safety is the organization’s primary concern.”

Snodgrass noted that, historically, fire occurred naturally on a regular basis, and it tended to have a self-limiting effect: Periodic fires kept fuel loads down, so naturally occurring fires tended to burn themselves out fairly quickly.