The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will be conducting prescribed burns this spring on wildlife management areas managed by the Iowa DNR’s Great Lakes Wildlife Unit in Dickinson, O’Brien and Lyon counties.
Areas scheduled for prescribed burns are Spring Run, Cayler Prairie, Center Lake, Christopherson Slough, Diamond Lake, Dugout Creek, Hales Slough, Kettleson Hogsback, Silver Lake and Welch Lake, and along the Little Sioux River Northern Tallgrass Prairie parcel to the south on the county line, in Dickinson County; Waterman Prairie, in O’Brien County; and the Big Sioux River, in Lyon County.
Prescribed burns are used to improve wildlife habitat, control invasive plant species, restore and maintain native plant communities, and reduce wildfire potential. Prescribed burns vary in size from a few acres to several hundred acres.
Prescribed burns typically begin mid to late morning and are completed by late afternoon or early evening. Prescribed burns usually occur between mid-March and mid-May, and will be conducted when burn plan objectives are met and weather conditions allow. Any prescribed burn not completed this spring may be conducted in the fall.
Contact Iowa DNR wildlife biologist Chris La Rue at 712-330-4543 or 712-336-1485 with any questions or concerns.