The after effects of a prescribed burn at Cowles Bog – Indiana Dunes National Park. It may look desolate for now, but before long this entire area will be covered with new growth of wildflowers, ferns, and leaves on the trees. Photos were taken yesterday, February 19.
All photos are my own. ©Pepper Tron/Heaven’s Sunshine
No usage allowed in any form without my written consent.
It’ll be exciting to return and see the new growth on the forest’s floor begin. 🙂
It is exciting. The Indiana Dunes National Park workers have been very busy getting the trails ready for visitors (human and animals). 😁
It’s interesting how the approach to forest fires has changed over the years from suppressing them to now having prescribed burns. It’s pretty amazing how nature bounces back and the wildflowers afterwards are always stunning.
I am so looking forward to the wildflowers showing off their blossoms along the trails. 😁
I bet it will look stunning come spring! 🙂
It will! Meet you out on the trails sometime. 😉
YES!!!
Yay! Sent you an email. 😊
The after effects will be lovely! It’s like in life…to see new growth, you have to burn away the old.
So true! It is just like our lives. 😊
In Shenandoah National Park, there is a place called “Big Meadows.” It was started by Native Americans long ago and covered an even larger area than it does today. They burned many acres of forest so that berries could grow and animals could browse and be hunted. Today it is a place where wildflowers grow abundantly!
Thank you, Pepper for this interesting and thought-provoking post. The American West is suffering wildfires partly because they spent decades putting out every little forest fire! We are learning to work with Mother Nature!
Big Meadows sounds like a lovely spot. Wyoming had its share of losing quite of lot of trees a couple of years ago due to the wood boring beetles. I remember driving through the Medicine Bow National Forest and seeing so many dead trees. It was so sad. Controlled burns seemed to have taken care of the problem.
You are so right about learning to work with nature. I think there has been a learning curve for everyone. Good intentions can easily be taken to an extreme by well meaning people who care deeply and love nature. 😊
The science behind a controlled burn is fascinating in preparing the forest for new growth and killing the insects living just under the topsoil.
It truly is fascinating. In other sections of the Indiana Dunes National Park that are mostly wetlands, a lot of care is taken to keep the tall grass and shrubs from overtaking the marshes. Losing our wetlands would hurt the hundreds of birds that migrate through here every year. Must be a difficult job to maintain such a delicate balance. 🙂
Thoughtful words accomplish much.