That smoke you see coming from Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge could be from a controlled burn to clear non-native vegetation off a 6-acre plot.
The burn is tentatively scheduled for today but could be rescheduled for later in the month “when weather and fuel conditions allow for safe and successful project implementation,” according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service press release.
It will be the third burn in an effort to restore native coastal prairie habitat on the island, said Lorenz Sollmann, deputy director of the Washington Maritime Complex of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The first burn was in 2017; the second was last fall.
The agency’s latest comprehensive conservation plan directs that, eventually, up to 200 acres of the island — which extends over 659 acres of land and tideland lease — are to be restored prairie.
It will take awhile. This fall one of the early sites cleared — one measuring only a little over an acre — will receive native seeding, Sollmann said.
Once the prairie is established, the agency plans to add native plants such as golden paintbrush, which is federally listed as endangered, balsam root and camas. Some 28 species of plants are being eyed for the island.
Non-native species took root on Protection Island before it was made a national wildlife refuge in 1982. The island had been farmed and had cattle grazing it.
The burn will be conducted by personnel from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Forest Service and state Department of Natural Resources.
Smoke may be visible for a short time during the burn, officials noted. However, minimal smoke is expected because of the relatively small size of the prescribed burn.
Information on the prescribed fire will be available at the refuge headquarters and local information stations and overlooks.
For more information, call the refuge office at 360-457-8451.
