Fire managers complete two prescribed burns on the National Key Deer Refuge; the first prescribed burns in five years

Wildland Fire and the Florida Keys sounds like an exotic combination, but travel 100 miles south of Miami, Florida, across emerald islands linked by historic bridges which span vistas of azure water and you will find yourself on 10-square-mile Big Pine Key, home of the tiny Key Deer and 4,600 residents. Surrounding you will be the fire-dependent pine rocklands, one of the rarest ecosystems in the world. Imbedded within dense stands of Slash Pine, choked with an understory of dangerously flammable palms, are a myriad of homes and businesses which are vulnerable to high intensity wildfire.

Like most of the landscape of South Florida, fire is essential to maintain the biological diversity of this pine forest that gives Big Pine Key its name. Tropical hardwoods shrubs and trees more common to the Caribbean are a fascinating feature of pine rocklands, but periodic fire would normally keep their encroachment in check. Without fire, the hardwoods would rapidly increase in number and stature, resulting in a reduction in the amount of light reaching the forest floor. Conditions would become less favorable for pine regeneration, and the rare herbaceous flora would be shaded out and lost. Four hundred native plants, 31 found nowhere else on earth, seven of which are listed as federally endangered, reside in this unique landscape.

Prescribed fire had long been used on the refuge to specifically benefit the endangered Key Deer by maintaining openings and promoting new plant growth. Over the past five years, obstacles such as limited staff, island-wide recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Wilma in 2005, and public concerns about the effects of fire upon wildlife has prevented prescribed burns from occurring on the Key Deer Refuge. This delay coupled with hurricane debris has caused hazardous fuels to accumulate to dangerous levels.

Recognizing the obvious risk to the islands residents from wildfire as well as the ecological benefits, Refuge Manager, Anne Morkill, ARM Loxahatchee NWR prescribed fire specialist, Jon Wallace, and other refuge staff began an interagency and community based effort to reduce fire risk on the island. Planning began in 2006 with public meetings and a convening of the Lower Keys Wildfire Hazard Reduction Initiative Working Group. Kim Ernstrom, fire management officer, hired in 2007, joined the effort and six more meetings for planning and public information were held from 2007 – 2009. Finally in August 2009, in the face of much public concern, the stars aligned, and a 2.5- acre- burn was completed. Fire management resources from nine locations across South Florida teamed up to execute the first prescribed fire on refuge land on Big Pine Key since 2004. Participants from the Florida Panther, Merritt Island, Loxahatchee, J. N. “Ding” Darling and the National Key Deer Refuges, Everglades National Park, Florida Division of Forestry, the Missoula Fire Lab, and Monroe County Fire and Rescue sweated and labored in the 92-degree heat and 70 percent humidity to ensure the burn was a complete success. Using valuable lessons learned from this first controversial treatment, a second burn was successfully completed three weeks later on September 10. Many positive comments were received from the public, and the interagency cooperation has set a precedent for more burns to come.

Since 2006, the refuge has hosted a total of 11 public meetings and workshops to share current information and explore new strategies for the fire management program. Fire managers also are collaborating with researchers from the Missoula Fire Lab and other universities to conduct a variety of studies on the refuge, which will provide additional information to help refine strategies to reflect different site characteristics among forest stands and between islands, and to predict future changes that may result from sea level rise and hurricanes.

Many challenges remain, but momentum is on the fire managers’ side now that success has been proven by doing rather than just talking and meeting. It will take many more burns and some innovative fuels treatments to begin to significantly reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire on the National Key Deer Refuge, but with continued public and interagency support the creatures and plants of the pine rocklands, including the humans, will be able to enjoy their unique and rare landscape in the future.

Submitted by Kim Ernstrom, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, Naples, Florida