Marsh Burn Conducted

Conditions were finally right yesterday for the Ogden Dunes Volunteer Fire Department to try to burn Long Lake Marsh. Fire Chief Eric Kurtz indicated that they started out doing the burn as a test, and then decided to continue since the conditions seemed to be right.

While the result may not be as dramatic as a burn of a prairie or forested area, this is a significant first step in our restoration project. The burn helped eliminate a lot of the dead cattail material, which will allow us to more effectively apply herbicide this summer. Burning the marsh will certainly not prevent the cattails from coming back, however. They may come back even denser, providing even more surface area for the herbicide to cling to.

Another advantage of the burn is that we can utilize the value of the equipment and volunteer time as in-kind match, bringing us that much closer to meeting our $15,700, 1:1 match on the project. As of the end of the last quarter, we were $4,985.63 away from meeting our grant match.

This project is funded under the Coastal Zone Management Act by NOAA and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Lake Michigan Coastal Program. Project partners also include the Ogden Dunes Volunteer Fire Department, the Ogden Dunes Community Fund, the Save the Dunes Conservation Fund, and the Indiana American Water Company.