Welcome everybody to Princess Point. One of Royal Botanical Gardens is many natural spaces. Now my name is Justin I'm one of the nature interpreters here at RBG and I am happy to be joined by Lindsay Barr our terrestrial ecologist who is here to talk about a rather unique and kind of unexpected restoration project called the prescribed burn. So Lindsay can you tell us a little bit about Princess Point and what a prescribed burn is? Yes so Princess Point is an area that has very rich a very rich history. For thousands of years people have been coming to Princess Point together. Today people gather at Princess Point to experience nature, connect with nature whether it's walking the trails or paddling in Coos Paradise. Historically thousands of years ago indigenous people would gather here. So at Princess Point we are working towards restoring tall grass prairie and oak savannah habitat. These plant communities are extremely rare and a lot of endangered species rely on them for habitat. Historically fire would clear the land. We're mimicking this today under an extremely controlled circumstance because the prairie plants and savannah plants are actually adapted to fire. The fire also helps to control invasive plants which is a great alternative to pesticide use. So there is no need to call 911 if we see this happening right? There's absolutely no reason to call 911 during the controlled burn. The burn is executed by professionals who have years of experience. The Hamilton Fire Department has reviewed the burn plan and approved it and has given us a burn permit to do the burn and we wait to make sure that the weather conditions are just right so that the smoke doesn't impact any of the areas and the burn is remained under control. So typically a fire would be considered a destructive force but how is this fire any different? This is different because the plants that we're trying to establish at Princess Point actually rely on fire to thrive. Prairie and savannah plants have adapted deep root systems which remain protected underground during a prescribed burn and they start to grow later in the season. So invasive grasses so some of you may recall that Princess Point was once covered in turf grass. That turf grass is non-native invasive grasses. They actually start to grow earlier in the spring and that's why we prescribe fire in the spring to control these non-native grasses, kick them back and allow for more space for a native plants to thrive. That sounds like the fire is going to clear out all the things that we don't want but all of the things that we do want here are going to happily keep growing. But what about all the animals that call this area home? Where do they go during this time? So before the burn, RBG staff walk through we ensure that there's nothing occupying the area. We'll pick anything that we find up and move it to a safe location. We make sure that we burn early in spring before the birds start to nest. Any animal that can bury underground will do so during the burn and the temperature underground is absolutely fine. The hot temperatures remain above the soil. It's great to hear that those animals are going to be okay but how long after the burn can we and I guess those animals too expect to see more than just scorched earth here. So the plants will start to green up quite quickly within a couple weeks after the burn you'll see new plant growth and then come July, August the fields will be full of grasses and wildflowers perfect for pollinators to thrive. I'm looking around here and this is definitely a very big area so I imagine this is a massive operation. So how often would an area like this need to be burned? Typically we burn every three to five years but we rely on our monitoring work to sort of give us the science that shows us when we should be burning again. So I hope that's pretty obvious that any person should not be setting fire to Prisdus Point and definitely not to start random fires out in the environment but what are some ways that we could help support the restoration of this important habitat? The best thing you can do is appreciate the space and celebrate its beauty. We've worked very hard to try to establish plant growth here but it's very difficult to keep it from getting trampled. This means staying on trail that's essential. When you're picking a cane in the area it's important to put your litter in the waste bin. If you're taking photos take your photos from the trail and have your subjects stay on the trail. If you want to appreciate the flowers please don't pick them. Instead maybe try your hand at growing them at home. Other things you can do is become an RBG member. That membership will go towards projects like the one here at Prisdus Point. Also if you want the perfect experience you can become an RBG volunteer and you'll get a first-hand try at participating in these projects. Well I am excited to see the transformation of this special area and I encourage all of you to come and visit Prisdus Point throughout the year to see how it changes first-hand. So thank you all for watching. Thank you Lindsay for sharing all of that great information and until next time happy exploring.