by Jo Hill

Driving from Downtown Des Moines, we were surprised to see so much smoke. Was MacCrea Park on fire? But as we got closer; we saw there were no fire truck or flashing lights.

What we did see was several men with torches that were lighting small fires along the hillside. A controlled burn.

I looked up what they were doing and this is what I found:

Oak savannah is a scattering of oak trees with a woodland flora under-story.  Oak savannah is rapidly disappearing in Iowa because of the fire suppression efforts of man.  Without fire, softwood trees  grow unchecked.   The shade of these trees  gradually kills oak trees, and prevents re-generation of oak seedlings, which require sunlight.   Eventually the forest becomes so strangled that there is no sunlight for understory plants, and the forest begins to errode.

So they are burning Mac Ray Park to keep the Oaks healthy.  Also there are native prairie plants growing there that must be burned to insure they are not overcome by introduced weeds or plants.