Contact Information:
Walt Tysinger, 919-428-3859
Matt Rutledge, 864-201-9632
WHO: TRIANGLE LAND CONSERVANCY & CORPS OF FIRE PROFESSIONALS
WHAT: PRESCRIBED BURN AT IRVIN FARM
WHERE: J. LOGAN AND ELINOR MOORE IRVIN FARM
From Chapel Hill, take W. Main Street south. Stay straight onto Jones Ferry Road and go 4.3 miles. On the left, go past a bright yellow mailbox marked 2912 Jones Ferry Road and take a left at the next driveway on the left.
WHEN: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2015, STARTING AT 10 AM
Spring 2015 burn at TLC’s Horton Grove Nature Preserve in Durham County
Durham County, NC – Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) will conduct a prescribed burn at Irvin Farm in Orange County on Thursday, September 3, 2015. This prescribed burn is designed to promote native grassland species, subsequently increasing both plant and wildlife diversity, and reduce the chances of wildfire.
Located just 5 miles southwest of downtown Chapel Hill, the 269-acre J. Logan and Elinor Moore Irvin Nature Preserve (Irvin Farm) serves as a model for conservation and community partnerships in the Triangle. Thanks to the generosity of the Irvin family, Triangle Land Conservancy was gifted the property in 2007.
The farm will forever be maintained by TLC as open space with strategic partnerships leveraging the property’s strategic resources. Currently, Irvin Farm houses two community nonprofits: Learning Outside, an environmental education organization, and Transplanting Traditions, a community farm dedicated to helping local refugees.
Field at TLC’s Irvin Farm in Orange County
TLC is committed to forever protecting and caring for the land we own so it will continue to benefit the larger community, and in certain instances like Irvin Farm, this includes active land management such as prescribed burning. Natural ecological disturbances create habitats that support diverse types of flora and fauna. In North America, these habitats or ecosystems include grasslands or prairies, savannas, eastern hardwood forests, and floodplains. Whereas the extent of all natural habitats has diminished significantly owing to changes in land use, the suppression of disturbance by agents such as fire and flooding has led to further losses. Prescribed (or “controlled”) burning is a means of reintroducing this natural process.
The controlled burn is scheduled when favorable conditions minimize the potential for some smoke. Qualified personnel (TLC staff and contractors) will control the fire’s behavior through careful planning and specialized fire equipment. Local police and fire officials are notified when and where burns will take place, so they can respond to any smoke reports. An additional controlled burn is scheduled for this month at TLC’s Walnut Hill Farm in Wake County.
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For more information, or to schedule an interview, contact Diana Hackenburg, TLC Communications Manager, at [email protected] or by phone – office: 919-908-0056, cell: 419-603-0816.
