EIH performed a prescribed fire on UHCL campus

The Environmental Institute of Houston (EIH), along with the UHCL Fire Marshal, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the Galveston Bay Area Master Naturalist, performed a prescribed burn on Feb. 9, at the EIH demonstration prairie site which is part of the EIH WaterSmart demonstration habitat. This fire was ignited as part of an educational mission to show the benefits of a well-planned controlled fire.

The area that was burned was a native tallgrass prairie with grasses such as big bluestem, little bluestem, gamagrass, gulf muhly, and Indiangrass. These grasses historically covered most of the Houston and Galveston area. The EIH notes that the prairie evolved to coexist with fire, and fire is necessary for the regeneration of new growth of native prairie species, control of weed species, restoration of nutrients to the soil, improvement of wildlife habitat, and for increasing native plant diversity.

EIH is waiting for the new growth to come in and invites all to come over for a visit in the next few weeks to check out the new plants in the native prairie habitat.

For photos of the prescribed fire visit bit.ly/habitatfire.