Burn Planned for Desert Natural Area and Memorial Forest

SVT and City of Marlborough Continue Habitat Restoration Effort

As part of a long-term project to restore an unusual wildlife habitat, SVT and the City of Marlborough are planning a prescribed burn for 75 acres of the Desert Natural Area and Memorial Forest, which are located on the Sudbury-Marlborough line. The burn is scheduled to take place in either late March or April, with the exact date being weather dependent. The burn will require two to three days of work.

The prescribed burn will help to rejuvenate a nationally imperiled pitch pine/scrub oak barrens habitat that supports numerous species of declining wildlife, including whip-poor-will birds, moths, and wild lupine plants. This barrens habitat relies on occasional fires in order to thrive; the fire helps to keep the forest canopy open and also helps seeds to germinate.

Star Tree Wildfire Protection LLC has been contracted to conduct the burn. Star Tree, SVT and the City of Marlborough have met with the Sudbury and Marlborough Fire Departments and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s regional fire warden to discuss the plan and ensure that fire personnel will be ready to assist.

This will be the second prescribed burn that SVT and the City have conducted at the site. In 2014, SVT and the City conducted a prescribed fire on 14 acres. Since then, the project partners have cut, thinned, and removed trees in preparation for a second burn and have also cleared fire breaks as part of the burn plan.

The public is invited to learn more about this habitat restoration project at these events:

Public Forum: Habitat Restoration at Desert Natural Area/Memorial Forest

Tuesday, February 25

7:00 – 8:30 p.m.

Goodnow Library, Sudbury

(This session will also be accessible via Zoom.)

Habitat Restoration Site Walk

Saturday, March 15

9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Desert Natural Area, Marlborough

Please register  for these events at www.svtweb.org/calendar.

More information about the project is also available at www.svtweb.org/desert or by contacting Laura Mattei, SVT Director of Conservation, at lmattei@svtweb.org, or Priscilla Ryder, Marlborough Conservation Officer, at pryder@marlborough-ma.gov.