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It's Prescribed burn season

 Seeing a smoke plume rise in a Kane County forest preserve? Here’s the likely reason: It’s prescribed burn season. The Forest Preserve District conducts carefully controlled burns each spring and fall because they:
*  Control invasive species and woody encroachment
*  Promote native plant and wildlife diversity
*  Enhance ecosystem resilience
*  Bring fire back to the land in a safe, controlled way

Prescribed fire helps restore the native ecosystems that invasive shrubs like buckthorn and honeysuckle disrupt. Here’s why:

1. Buckthorn and honeysuckle suppress native plants
Invasives like common buckthorn and non-native honeysuckle form dense thickets that shade-out native grasses, wildflowers and tree seedlings. This reduces biodiversity in prairies, savannas and woodlands — ecosystems that evolved with periodic fire.

2. Fire favors fire-adapted natives over invasives
Native prairie and oak-savanna plants have deep roots and fire-tolerant growth habits, allowing them to quickly resprout after burning. By contrast, buckthorn and honeysuckle seedlings are shallow-rooted and sensitive to heat. Low-intensity burns can kill buckthorn and honeysuckle before they mature. Regular burns also prevent them from reseeding or aggressively re-sprouting.

3. Fire opens the canopy and promotes regrowth of native plants
Buckthorn and honeysuckle produce thick leaf litter that blocks sunlight and slows native seed germination. Fire removes this litter and exposes the soil, promoting the regrowth of native grasses and forbs that stabilize soil and support wildlife.

4. Fire is one part of an integrated control strategy
Burning alone rarely eradicates non-native shrubs but it’s an essential part of an integrated management plan that includes:

*  Cutting large shrubs and treating stumps with herbicide
*  Following up with burns to kill seedlings and root sprouts
*  Encouraging native vegetation to reestablish

For more information, see Prescribed Burns: A Prescription for Habitat Health or our recent press release.

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Sponsor a tree

2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the Forest Preserve District of Kane County. Help launch the next century of conservation by sponsoring a tree in the Centennial Grove at Johnson's Mound Forest Preserve. Tree sponsors will be commemorated with an inscription on a permanent plaque at the site. For more information or to participate, click the buttons below, or visit the Kane Forest Preserve Foundation website. Sponsorships are due 12/31/25.