01/30/2009
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Accreted Land Management Plan
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2253 [30 JANUARY 2009]
Town of Sullivan’s Island, SC
6.2 Specific Management Elements
To assist the community in evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of the four broad
alternatives, the Team offers the following discussion of certain specific management ele-
ments: fire control, pest control, bird habitat enhancement, vegetation removal, and dune
construction. Some background information is included as necessary to aid the discussion.
Fire Control
Fire has played a major role in determining the distribution of plants and animals in the south-
eastern United States. Some communities, such as the longleaf pine-wiregrass habitat, re-
quire periodic fire to survive. The natural occurrence of fire from events such as lightning
results in upland burns every three to five years. Barrier-island maritime forests may burn less
frequently. However, the basic premise of fire ecology is that the fire is neither innately
destructive nor constructive. It is an agent of change.
Change is a biologically necessary component of a healthy ecosystem. Early man learned to
use fire as a tool for hunting and clearing land for crop production. Today’s resource mana-
gers have learned to use fire to manipulate change to meet the needs of plant and animal com-
munities. Its prudent use can achieve a variety of habitat changes depending on the timing,
frequency, and intensity of the fire. Man’s use of fire as a tool is referred to as prescribed
burning.
A single prescribed burn can produce multiple impacts. The fire can be used to reduce wildfire
hazard by reducing the fuel load on the ground. The same fire can also improve access in
woods and improve wildlife habitat. Proper use of prescribed fire requires knowledge of how
fire affects vegetation, wildlife, soil, water, and air. Burning techniques can be varied to
achieve different results.
Fire may injure or kill part or all of a plant depending on how intense the fire is and how long
the plant is exposed to high temperatures. Bark thickness and stem diameter will influence
a plant’s susceptibility to damage. In general, small trees of any species are more easily
damaged by fire than large ones. On average, hardwood trees are more susceptible to fire
damage than pine trees. The thicker bark and better insulating qualities of pine trees have
adapted to a presence of fire and provide protection for them. Pine trees with a diameter of
three inches or more usually have enough bark to protect them against damage from most
prescribed fires. The needles however are very susceptible to temperatures above 135
E
F.
Pine needles will survive temperatures of 130
E
F for about five minutes.