January 13, 2015
Contact: Nancy Lee Gomer, Marketing Coordinator, 636-949-7535 or cell 636-795-1137
St. Charles County, Missouri – The St. Charles County Parks and Recreation Department will be conducting its first prescribed burn of the year, today, Tuesday, Jan. 13. The department’s natural resource team is scheduled to burn 1.5 acres of native warm seeded grasses at Quail Ridge Park, 5501 Quail Ridge Parkway, Wentzville, MO 63385. Today’s frigid weather conditions are perfect for managing a park burn. Beginning at noon and continuing through 2 p.m., the area just south of the Off-Leash Dog Area of Quail Ridge Park will be addressed. Prescribed burns are essential to the growth of the natural habitat within the St. Charles County Parks system.
“The controlled park burns promote the growth of many grass, sedge and wildflower species that have become suppressed in the dense shade of the overstory canopy and are extremely important for wildlife survival,” said Parks Director Bettie Yahn-Kramer. “They also help to eliminate invasive and undesirable species, such as Japanese honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) and bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii) on park property.”
The Parks Department’s Natural Resource Supervisor, Tony Peper, is leading the burn and will be accompanied by volunteers and staff.
All necessary precautions have been made and emergency workers with the St. Charles County Police Department have been notified of the burn.
Anyone with questions about park prescribed burn activities should contact the St. Charles County Parks Department at 636-949-7535.
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