Restoring wetlands improves wildlife habitat, helps the environment, and protects from wildfires
Aerial view of Evans Road, showing the hydrology restoration site in the foreground on the west side of Evans Road, the Evans Road Firebreak alongside the road, and, in the background, the aftermath of the Evans Road Fire. August 3 photo by Tom Crews.
With the Evans Road Fire having a prominent position in news in eastern North Carolina this summer, it’s been hard for Pocosin National Wildlife Refuge staff to focus attention on other projects. As of August 22, the fire was 95 percent contained, and there were still some fire spots.
Refuge Fire Management Officer Vince Carver “still has stories to tell” about the time leading up to the Evans Road Fire. “The Evans Road Fire isn’t over yet. But, at least it’s calmed down enough to allow us to think about why the fire burned the areas it did. A lot of work was done in the months and years prior to this fire. Two projects really affected the impact of the Evans Road Fire- without them, the block of pocosin west of Evans Road would have likely been a part of this fire—and the homes on Shore Drive would have been at more extreme risk.”
The first project was the Evans Road Fire Break. Having that defensible space already established saved the day more than once on this fire. The second was a hydrology restoration project - an area of the refuge where the draining had been greatly reduced in an effort to restore natural water levels."
Prior to the Evans Road Fire, a partnership between the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR) and the Service restored 7,500 acres of previously drained pocosin wetlands at Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.
Although the wetland restoration was primarily to minimize the impacts of local nutrient pollution and improve water quality and wildlife habitat, it also helped to greatly reduce the potential for wildfires like the Evans Road fire.
Saturation of the soils limits the potential
for peat ground fires to spread while still allowing the above-ground
vegetation to burn (a necessary component of pocosin ecosystems). "With
help from our friends at NCDENR we've been able to get a lot
of our hydrology restoration work done much more quickly than
we could have otherwise" said Refuge Manager Howard Phillips; "and
it appears to have paid big benefits on the Evans Road Fire."
