UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Arboretum at Penn State, in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy and the Pennsylvania Game Commission, will conduct a prescribed burn on a 12-acre portion of the Arboretum site, starting at noon on Monday, March 9. The project will take place in a single work day.
The 12-acre burn site will be located in College Township near Big Hollow and Tower roads. The prescribed burn is being conducted as part of the Arboretum’s ongoing prairie restoration project, through which an old livestock pasture is being converted into a more species-diverse meadow or “prairie patch” containing native grasses and wildflowers. Periodic fire is an essential tool for this type of ecological restoration.
This spring’s prescribed fire will be the fourth such operation the Arboretum has carried out with The Nature Conservancy and the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The burn will be conducted in accordance with the Pennsylvania Prescribed Burning Practices Act and associated prescribed fire standards.