The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will be conducting prescribed burns this spring on Wildlife Management Areas managed by the Iowa DNR’s Black Hawk Wildlife Unit and Waterfowl Production Areas managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Sac, Calhoun, Cherokee, Buena Vista, Carroll and Pocahontas counties.
Areas scheduled for burns are Black Hawk Marsh Complex, Burrows Pond Complex, Tomahawk Marsh, Sac City Wetland Complex and Kiowa Marsh Complex, in Sac County; Calhoun, Sorenson, South Twin and Towhead Lake, in Calhoun County; Steele Prairie State Preserve and Nestor Stiles State Preserve, in Cherokee County; Leo Grau and Pheasant Hills, in Buena Vista County; Artesian Lake Complex, in Carroll County; and Sunken Grove Complex, Lizard Lake and Stoddard, in Pocahontas County.
Prescribed burns are used to improve wildlife habitat, control invasive plant species, restore and maintain native plant communities and reduce wildfire potential and vary in size from a few acres to several hundred acres. Areas are typically burned every one to five years.
Ground nesting birds such as pheasants, mallards, bobolinks, dickscissels and others benefit from habitat improved with periodic prescribed fire. Prescribed burns typically begin mid to late morning and are completed by late afternoon or early evening between late March and mid-May. Burns will be conducted on a day that meets the objectives and weather conditions defined in the burn plan.
Contact DNR wildlife technicians Jeff Feisel at 712-330-8414 or Skylyr Stewart at 712-330-5685 with any questions or concerns.