Open House to Learn About Prescribed Burn in Optimist Memorial Park

The City of Windsor is inviting residents and business owners in the area of Optimist Memorial Park to an Open House at the Chisholm Branch of the Windsor Public Library, where a prescribed burn will be the topic.

The open house is April 5, 2023 from 5 to 7 p.m. and the City Naturalist will provide information and answer questions about a prescribed burn that may occur this spring. It would be a first for the Natural Heritage oak woodlot portion of Optimist Memorial Park.

The purpose of the burn would be to reintroduce an important component of oak woodland ecology and to consume the leaf litter (fine fuels) that have accumulated.

Optimist Memorial Park contains a remnant oak woodland ecosystem, a beautiful contribution to Natural Heritage in the City of Windsor. Oak woodlands are dominated by Oak trees (Quercus spp.) with a diverse shrub and ground-cover where many species of grass, sedges, forbs, ferns, and shrubs grow. The open conditions of an oak woodland were historically preserved by natural fire.

Did you know?

• Prescribed burns have been safely used as an effective management tool for Windsor’s Tallgrass Prairie and Oak Savannah ecosystems for 40 years.
• Prescribed burns can stress and create mortality of invasive species that have not evolved in the presence of fire.

The Chisholm Library Branch is located at 1075 Ypres Avenue.