Land Bank Conducts Prescribed Burn At Head Of Plains

The Nantucket Land Bank conducting a prescribed burn Monday afternoon of more than 25 acres of sandplain grassland at the Head of Plains on the west end of the island.
The burn was part of the Land Bank’s habitat management program to promote native wildflowers and grasses while eliminating woody encroachment and undesirable plants.
“It’s really good for habitat management” said Rachael Freeman, the Land Bank’s director of natural and agricultural resources. “These are really rare habitats and there are rare species that inhabit them and prescribed fire is one of the best ways to manage them.”
Assisting the Land Bank was the Nantucket Fire Department and other state agencies.
“It’s a chess match,” said Parker Schuerman, a contract employee with the Land Bank who was assisting with the burn today. “Once you commit to using fire, and if you have enough people and resources and can coordinate with your partners, you’re increasing teamwork and moving that chess piece around from a standpoint of biodiversity, you’re improving habitat. And that’s pretty damn cool.”