
According to Caroline Eliot, associate director of the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust ( BTLT), which owns the property, the controlled burn will be announced 24 hours in advance and could take place between today and April 15.
The barrens are located at Crystal Spring Farm, south of Pleasant Hill Road and north of Brunswick High School.
The Brunswick Fire Department and Maine Forest Service will oversee the planned burn.
A release from the BTLT states that the area called the Little Bluestem Sandplain “is exceedingly rare in Maine,” according to the Maine Natural Areas Program.
According to the BTLT, that type of landscape occurs on flat sandy plains with dry, acidic soils with mostly grasses and dwarf shrubs, including lowbush blueberry.
The BTLT stated that such prescribed burns are sometimes used to restore natural landscapes that would otherwise disappear without periodic fire.
“As towns and residences spread across the landscape, fire has been suppressed out of a concern for human safety,” the release states, “but this suppression has led to a decline of certain species and habitat types.”
Late last month, firefighters within 90 minutes knocked down a blaze on two acres off Scarponi Drive, on land adjacent to the blueberry barrens slated for a controlled burn. Police charged a 13-year-old boy with arson in connection with that incident.
The BTLT plans to notify immediate neighbors once the burn is announced.
Such burns are not expected to generate much smoke, according to the BTLT release, and may be scheduled at the same time in years to come.
news@timesrecord.com
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