The Buchanan County Conservation team recently took advantage of the nicer weather this past week and did a prescribed burn on the Bearbower Sand Prairie located about 3-4 miles east of Brandon.
Ben Bonar, BCC director, said that the team has only specific months of the year to burn the property owned by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Acquired in 1988 with public/private cost share grant funds by the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation and transferred to the DNR, the hunting area is known for its diverse wildlife populations and is threatened by the spread of eastern red cedar trees.
“Many species rely on that being an open sand property, and burning gives it the ability to survive,” he said. “There are also quite a few not terribly rare prairie species on the property, but some do have the mechanisms that are set off by burns to help germinate.”…