The Maryland Forest Service manages over 214,000 acres of designated State Forest. Those management efforts include preventing unwanted forest fires AND overseeing prescribed burns in forests to restore and maintain ecosystems. It may seem counterintuitive, but fire is part of the natural cycle of forest growth and development. In fact, some trees, like the pitch and table mountain pines, are fire dependent. Their cones have to encounter fire in order to open and disperse seeds. Without fire, the forest will transition from pine to hardwoods.
Lance Carroll, the State Fire Risk and Prevention Coordinator, will discuss the mission of the Maryland DNR Forest Service and explain how the Service is utilizing fire to restore fire-dependent species or as a natural disturbance on the landscape. The tools include drones and dragon eggs.
A native of the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Lance has worked for the the DNR Forest Service as a Natural Resource Planner for 15 years.