Help Was on the Way

Native wildlife in Florida often have to compete with the various forms of non native species for the food, cover, water and space that they need to survive. Our state is home to well over five hundred different types of non native wildlife species. When we typically define non native species, we say words like destruction, invasive, damage, negative impacts, etc. In that way, we humans are somewhat hypocritical because unfortunately we are the ultimate invasive species, having caused the sixth major extinction event upon this planet. Conservationists try their best to mitigate and repair the damage where they can. But, I digress.

Our non native species have a naturally food and climate friendly environment here in Florida which is one of the main reasons we have so many. One prime example of this invasive species conundrum facing this state is the feral hog populations. Feral hogs are a species that have been a part of the landscape since Florida was under Spanish occupation, which means that many generations have adapted to life here. To this day, they remain a problem because of their ability to exploit our native as well as working landscapes. In my experience with them, they are extremely difficult to eradicate and they have the ability to do a lot of damage in a short amount of time. Being a staff member of a state wildlife management area came with its frustrations. On our particular property, we were not allowed to interfere with the feral hog populations for various reasons, one of which being that it would reduce opportunity for hunters that utilized the area during the open seasons. We often would have to do nothing more than watch as the feral hogs inflicted heavy damage on the landscape.

I recall one day during a cattle pasture burn on the state property that stands out in my mind as an example of the dilemma that we often faced. The pasture was becoming dense and overgrown, and the green bahia grass perfect for foraging was now brown with a dried layer of dead fuel on the top layer caused by recent frost. The area was delineated by a large dich in the middle and head-high blackberries interspersed throughout. As I was traveling across a dense thicket on my ATV while lighting a long line of fire behind me from the rear-mounted torch, I came across a lone pig ambling along slowly. I stopped and noticed that its back leg was injured by what looked to have been bullet having passed through it by an unsuccessful hunter or a possible vehicle strike. Feeling bad and realizing that the pig would not have an escape route if I drove by, I stopped and easily picked it up. It let out a terrible ear-piercing squeal, but I laid it across the saddle of the machine anyway and in a moment we were off.

I took us across a large ditch, over thick palmettos and into a clearing on the other side away from the danger of the fire and smoke. As I came to a stop, I spoke to it. "There you go little buddy", I said with a smile. As I set it down, the pig turned around and scurried off right into the belly of the fire which soon came together like a wave crashing against the coast. I was dumbfounded. As much as I could tell, the animal was not well and was more than likely not of sound mind because of infection at that time. I felt bad momentarily, however my duties of the day were only half over. I carried on the rest of the afternoon thinking of the poor pig, but came to the conclusion that I had done what I could and that the rest was out of my hands.

Yes it is true that wildlife species can perish in a fire. Burning is a science that if done correctly, can be applied in a way as to allow for critters to successfully escape from advancing flames. Inevitably, the unfortunate does happen as in this case. An important point in all of this is to understand that not only are we applying fire under controlled, measured conditions that allow for special techniques to better help wildlife, but we are also at the same time preventing the risk of noncontrolled wildfire due to dense fuel accumulation over time.

CWL, 1/12/23

Caravelle Ranch WMA, Circa 2017

The Remnants of an Ancient Culture Appear - Part 2 of 2

Having the bulldozer on the ground during a burn can sometimes turn out to be the best tool of all because of the v-shaped plow that will create a line of bare soil to stop a problematic fire. While it can be destructive, it is one of the best ways to defuse a situation that has become unmanageable. While the dozer went to work, some level of commotion amongst the crew ensued. Within a few minutes, the fire jumped the line in an unwatched area while it continued to roar to life in the area we were focused on. Rick laid the plow into the ground and began to cut a line around the main fire. The main fire had become so hot that it required the line to be pushed through the thick vegetation and over the top of an old sand dune formation. We watched as the machine climbed the 20 foot tall dune, rocked back and forth on the crest, and quickly disappeared out of site along the back side. Rick soon chimed over the radio that the dune was too steep to climb back over and that the machine was unable to get out.

After trying several times to climb back up the dune, his only option was to find another way. Any time a dozer is involved, we always tried to keep a "light hand on the land" so to speak, but in this case the decision had to be made to push trees out of the way in order to get Rick safely out of the area that he had to drive into. It unfortunately made a heck of a mess in the process. After the mishap, he went to work plowing another line around the other problematic area. The crew spent the rest of the day extinguishing the remining hot spots, and by 5PM we were able to successfully contain and prevent any more fire from getting out.

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At the end of the day, I followed the path that the dozer had made over top of the dune to check things out. As I slid down the back side on the turned up soil, I noticed a few peculiar items when I came to a rest at the bottom. Ancient pottery littered the ground everywhere! Surprisingly, we had inadvertently stumbled across an unknown Timucuan site. It appeared that this old sand dune served as a shelter from the ocean breeze for the ancient people of this maritime haven.

As I waked around, I found many different shapes and sizes of the pottery pieces. I also found bones, which I believed to be from animal origin. After counting close to thirty pieces of pottery with various designs, we went to work at once to notify the Florida Division of Historical Resource to catalog the site and protect it for the future. In the excitement that ensued, several archaeologists came to the area. It turned out that the site dated back to the St. Johns period, which lasted from about 500 BC until European contact. Interestingly enough, that plow line was the only way that they could actually get to the ancient encampment because of the dense undergrowth.

Sometimes unexpected events give way to pleasant surprises. We were happy to formally name the area the "Scrub Fire Site", and it forever remains on the list of historically significant areas in Northeast Florida. To this day it is monitored by staff to ensure it remains a protected resource.

CWL, 12/18/22

Fire on the foredune, Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, Circa 2013

The Remnants of an Ancient Culture Appear - Part 1 of 2

Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve is a special place. The state-owned tract of property lies along the beautiful salt marsh of the intracoastal waterway just north of St. Augustine, Florida. The ancient midden mounds of shells interspersed among the shade of the maritime oak hammocks provide a glimpse into the lives of the long forgotten people that graced the land before European settlement. The mounds are remnants of the Timucua people, who used the waterways as their main food source. They piled the remains of shellfish, bones, pottery and other items that they no longer needed into mounds which slowly grew over time into large structures. Mounds were also constructed to bury the dead. Over the centuries, the land now designated as the Reserve has had most of these discovered sites surveyed and designated as protected historical resources because of their scarcity.

The property consists of several miles of beaches and sand dunes that are home to many ecologically valuable plants and animals. When you stand atop the boardwalks that rise over the crest of the dunes toward the open ocean, you can see shades of pink, grey and white sand for miles. As you may have guessed, even the coastal dunes need fire from time to time. The thick palmettos, short scraggly oaks, cactus, and even the sea oats are dependent upon fire in one way or another.

Planning a burn in the area is no simple task. Between the wispy sands of the dunes and the waterway lies one of the busiest stretches of roads in North Florida - the scenic A1A highway. Motorists constantly ignore the speed limit as they pass beyond the high-rise condos and oceanfront homes between Ponte Vedra Beach and Vilano Beach. Today, it is a far cry from the quiet coastal shores of a bygone era. Many thousands of people enjoy the excellent fishing opportunities at the man-made Lake Ponte Vedra on the area. The additional nature-based recreation activities offered on the undeveloped peninsula located between the lake and the intracoastal are second to none. Successfully managing the smoke from a fire can be a daunting task because of the roads, expensive homes, and the sheer number of people present on any given day.

Back in 2013, I was a part of the small staff managing the area. One of the most important things we were tasked with was to ensure that the threat of wildfire for the multi-million dollar homes (which incidentally were plopped right in the middle of a coastal fire-adapted landscape) was minimized to the greatest extent possible. Our main method was mowing and disking 100-foot wide fire lines that bisected the area to slow any advancing threat if it should arise. Occasionally, when good weather presented itself, our park ranger in charge of operations would get our small crew together to conduct the risky business of starting a prescribed burn in the high-intensity flashy fuels known as coastal strand, or coastal scrub. These wider-than-normal fire lines were critical.

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One morning after the crew briefing for a planned burn, we proceeded to break into two teams in order to attempt a burn on a long rectangular stretch of this coastal strand. I was given the task of igniting on foot among the thick vegetation on the northernmost team. After confirming the behavior of the test fire, I was instructed to begin lighting inside the burn area with one solid strip of fire. As I walked slowly inward from the wide fire line, my hand held drip torch dropped down a line of flame about 10 yards long behind me. When I stopped and turned around, I watched as the flame lengths immediately grew to more than 15 feet in height. The loud crackling and roar of the fire was a sight to behold. Over the radio came "Ok Cully, go ahead and pull up another strip". Onward I stepped. Again the flames grew with a whoosh that generated some serious heat.

Another ignitor had begun walking parallel to me with the same results. I watched as the same wave of fire reached into the sky behind the other crew member. Over the radio came "All crew, please stop igniting. We need to put it out. Hey Rick, bring that bulldozer over here." I immediately heard the machine rumbling towards us, so I fell back to the line to wait for instructions.

Ignition atop the dunes, Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve

Circa 2013.