Prescribed burn planned at Fontenelle Forest

BELLEVUE, Neb. (WOWT) - Fontenelle Forest is planning a prescribed burn this week to help manage the habitat.

According to officials with Fontenelle Forest, the burn is planned for 1 p.m. Tuesday. Roughly 52 acres of upland woods adjacent to the Nature Center will be affected.

The burn is pending acceptable conditions. The weather Tuesday at 1 p.m. is expected to be sunny.

Prescribed burn season is from mid-February to mid-April, as well as November. Fontenelle Forest says the area of the oak woodland and savanna habitat is a fire-dependent system, and the burns help maintain things.

“The low-intensity, controlled burns help to combat invasive plants, and restore the once-diverse oak woodland habitat through shrub and tree control,” Fontenelle Forest officials said in a release.

The boardwalk will remain open to the public during the burn.