DEEP Will Conduct Prescribed Burn At Machimoodus State Park

EAST HADDAM, CT — Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection plans to conduct "prescribed burns" at three of the state's parks this season — and Machimoodus State Park in East Haddam is among them.

DEEP will conduct burns at five distinct sites that make up 15.5 acres sometime this spring, weather- and conditions-permitting, officials said. An exact date has not been announced.

The park will be closed to public access while the fire is taking place, and officials said anyone nearby may see rising smoke during the process.

The burn is designed to suppress above-ground vegetation growth, which would help restore an oak ecosystem that DEEP described as critically endangered and ecologically significant.

"Grassland habitat is limited in our state, as most abandoned farmland has either been developed or allowed to revert to forest," DEEP wrote in a news release. "Prescribed fire is one tool that can effectively maintain this habitat, without having to use chemical control of invading plants. Fire also returns nutrients to the soil and encourages the native grass species to flourish and return immediately and densely."

DEEP relayed its plans for the burn to East Haddam's municipal leaders and fire departments, and its forestry division personnel will use an operational and safety plan to ensure they're safe and effective, officials said.