Prescribed Burn at Sheets Sward

One of the best conservation and land management tools is prescribed fire.  A carefully planned prescribed fire can be used for many different reasons in land conservation including reducing invasive species pressure, thinning out thatch, and encouraging native seeds in the soil seed bank to grow.  Fire is a natural process in the wild, and many plant species rely on it to grow successfully.  

On February 17, 2026, our team conducted a prescribed burn at Sheets Sward to help suppress invasive plant species and manage several native plants that had become overly dominant. By thinning dense vegetation, the burn creates space, light, and nutrients for a wider variety of species to establish, ultimately increasing plant diversity throughout the unit.

Almost immediately after ignition, staff observed a notable presence of Shortleaf Pine (Pinus echinata) seedlings. Shortleaf Pine has experienced significant declines across much of its historic range over the past several decades, making its regeneration especially encouraging. This species provides valuable habitat for numerous wildlife species, including the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker, and its loss has had meaningful ecological consequences.

Fortunately, Shortleaf Pine is well adapted to fire. Periodic burning reduces competition from hardwoods and invasive plants, creating the open conditions these pines need to establish and persist. The seedlings observed during the burn are expected to respond positively to this newly restored habitat.

Beyond enhancing biodiversity, the Sheets Sward burn represents an important step toward establishing our mother garden, a dedicated area where our native nursery will propagate seeds sourced directly from sites within our ecoregion. By growing plants from locally collected seed, we can preserve regional genetic integrity and produce native plants with ecotypes better adapted to local climate, soils, and wildlife relationships.

The mother garden will occupy a small portion of Sheets Sward, and the prescribed fire provided a responsible and ecologically appropriate method of clearing vegetation to begin site preparation.

Looking ahead, we are excited to continue preparing additional areas across the Reflection Riding campus for future burns and to monitor how Sheets Sward responds as spring approaches. If you visit in the coming weeks, be sure to stop by and watch the meadow transform—what may appear quiet now will soon emerge as a vibrant and diverse landscape.