What's that burning? No fear, prescribed fires help Sanibel's ecology

They say the sense of smell is our strongest recall.

For me that would hold true.

I can remember the smell of eucalyptus in Ecuador, the smell of Italian bread in Rome, the smell of lavender in Provence as well as I remember the sights of any of these places. And when I smell them again, they spark very strong and pleasant memories.

Sanibel is not without its own distinguishable smells.

Because it is so full of wetlands, there is a swampy odor in many parts of the Island and in many seasons. There are times when various tropical flowers are all in bloom in unison perfuming the Island air.

But when I first smelled something burning, I did find it a little alarming. As a 12 mile long barrier island on the Gulf of Mexico, a fire could certainly wreck havoc for 2 and 4 legged creature alike. But generally, the fires burning on Sanibel are not those that will do damage or force an evacuation. They are controlled fires and their presence is beneficial to all flora and fauna.

According to the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) there are many benefits to prescribed fires.

Nationwide, prescribed burning is done systematically with measured results. Some of those include:

• Preparing the land for new growth.
• Helping certain plants/trees germinate.
• Naturally thinning overcrowded forests. Historically, natural fire thinned the forests. Thinned forests can recover faster and are more resistant to insect and disease attacks. Currently, many of the mature forests are overcrowded, resulting in a lack of vigor and health.
• Creating diversity needed by wildlife.

All these benefits can be witnessed on Sanibel.

SCCF works closely with their partners at the J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge, the City of Sanibel, and the Sanibel Fire Department to coordinate our prescribed-fire efforts and to reach out to Sanibel residents to let them know how to keep their homes safe from wildland fires and why prescribed fire is important.

Their prescribed fire program benefited over the past year with additional work to increase the accessibility of fire lines when conditions are wet. Many wet areas of fire lines were either elevated or covered in a hard base of crushed concrete. This will effectively extend the burn season by providing access further into the late summer and allow for earlier access in the spring.

The photos on the SCCF website are from a burn conducted several years ago to clear the thick growth on the swale just behind the Nature Center building (which can be seen in one of the photos). The photo of smoke shows a burned cabbage (or sabal) palm. Cabbage palms are adapted to a Florida landscape where lightning strikes often cause fire; they survive fires and send out new shoots.

Wading birds returned to the swale the first rainy season that followed the Center Tract burn.

So while fire can be seen as destructive, with careful management and planning, it can be useful and productive.

No need to panic at the smell of smoke on Sanibel. It most likely means there are good things taking place for the Isand!