ROCKY PRAIRIE
- A slice of mounded prairie south of Tumwater that is home
to a rare flower called golden paintbrush is one of a record
number of South Sound prairie habitats slated to be set
on fire for good reasons in the days ahead.
Trained firefighters from The Nature Conservancy and state
Department of Natural Resources spent hours Friday planning
and deploying crews and equipment to burn five acres at
DNR's Rocky Prairie Natural Areas Preserve to reduce a buildup
of thatch, moss and competing vegetation that robs the golden
paintbrush of habitat for the plants' seeds to sprout.
"Fire seems to encourage the plant to flower, which
increases seed production," DNR natural areas ecologist
David Wilderman said.
But the fire had to be postponed due to shifting winds that
would have blown smoke over nearby old Highway99 and a manpower
shortage caused when firefighters from the East Olympia
Fire District No. 6 were pulled off the project to respond
to a fire at the Pacific Disposal recycling center in Lacey.
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