Temple Flat Rock 2013 Controlled Burn
TLC will conduct a controlled burn at its Temple Flat Rock Preserve off Watkins Road four miles northeast of Knightdale today, February 29, 2016, starting around 11am and lasting throughout the afternoon.
The burn will cover approximately 17 acres and some smoke may be present in areas near the preserve. Triangle Land Conservancy staff and prescribed fire professional will monitor the burn and smoke throughout the event.
TLC began using controlled burns at Temple Flat Rock in 2005 to restore a native prairie Prairies and other early successional ecosystems support a wide diversity of plants and animals, including many that are considered threatened or endangered.
Once common across North Carolina, these habitats have become rare due to development and fire suppression. These habitats are created and maintained by disturbances like extreme weather events, grazing, and fires. This burn will be used to maintain the prairie by reducing woody vegetation, controlling invasive species, and promoting the growth of native warm-season grasses and forbs.
Originally protected by a conservation easement with Triangle Land Conservancy in 1984, Temple Flat Rock Preserve is now owned and managed by TLC. The preserve’s namesake, a five-acre granitic outcrop, hosts a unique assemblage of plants, mosses and lichens. Though not open to the general public, the property is used as an educational resource by local researchers, schools, and environmental education organizations.
Raleigh Charter High School students regularly join TLC staff for workdays at the preserve. This video follows the students during a 2011 visit. On this trip, students built bat boxes, planted native grasses, and helped clear invasive and weedy species from the property.
For more information about this ecological restoration project, please contact Walt Tysinger, TLC Senior Land Manager, at 919-428-3859, or Matt Rutledge, Associate Manager of Stewardship, at 864-201-9632.
