DORCHESTER COUNTY, Md. - Fire soared high above the marshlands off Key Wallace Drive Thursday afternoon.
The refuge's Prescribed Fire Specialist Eric Kronner says these burns are crucial to maintaining the ecosystem.
"Sometimes improving a habitat means burning it. Means being able to remove the dead, dying, unhealthy vegetation. Be it timber, brush or grass and come back in a healthier state," Kronner said.
The smoke from the controlled fires or "prescribed burns" can get so high, Kronner says they are visible at times from Cambridge or Salisbury.
Kroner says ash has been spotted as far south as Worcester County.
"We're looking for a steady wind. We don't like it from the south in general but we take what we can get," Kronner said.
Blackwater Refuge Manager Marcia Pradines-Long says the wildlife living at the refuge would sufffer without these fires.
"With sea level rise and higher and higher water inundating our marshes and turning to open water this is extremely important," Pradines-Long said.
Kronner says the burns are usually put out within 45 minutes.
The Blackwater Refuge is planning more burns in the coming weeks. Neighbors are notified and nearby fire companies are on standby should the controlled burn get out of control.
