Hook, Line & Sinker

A lone tree in the middle of Lake Manatee State Park managed to avoided perishing in this recent prescribed burn

If you've ever jogged, biked, or ridden a horse across one of the sugar-sand paths on the east side of Lake Manatee State Park, you may have been in awe of the wildly-voluptuous trees and vegetation.

After a while, it feels like your backyard.

Quite the shock when you come back one day, as I did, and realize that a huge section, maybe 50 acres, tops, had been burned.

At first, I thought it was disaster. I was wrong. It was just another "prescribed burn," which basically is an intentional fire started by forest rangers. It's used to get rid of the forest's natural "fuels," so that a lightning strike, for example, would not cause a wild fire that could consume the entire forest.

About seven years ago, Smoky the Bear used to say, "Only you can prevent forest fires."
But after rangers realized that "forest" fires were necessary - a forest fire meaning one that is controlled or prescribed - the wording changed. Now, Smokey's mantra is "One you can prevent Wild Fires."

The good news regarding prescribed or controlled burns is that within a couple weeks, or up to a couple months, the area already can become lush green once again.

"It depends on how dry the ground is," said Florida senior forest ranger Andy Lee.

So if you're ever in a park, or anywhere in the "wild" and you come across a burned area, remember that it's not necessarily the result of a wild fire. And, after all, fires are a natural - and surprisingly helpful - part of the ecosystem.