FOX LAKE SANCTUARY--
Where Prescribed Burns are Beneficial and Geocaching is Welcomed

We were geocaching in this 2,568 acre preservation land just days after a prescribed burn.  That's Sue (in pink) walking a trail past this area of burn.  This trail is a tiny segment of the 7 miles of hiking, horseback riding, kayaking and mountain biking trails in this bountiful conservation area.

This sanctuary is part of the Brevard County, Florida EEL program--working to preserve Environmentally Endangered Lands.  The county also contains the Kennedy Space Center on Florida's East coast.

Population growth tends to fragment natural areas and this program preserves and sometimes recombines what is left.  The fragmentation also tends to reduce or eliminate natural forces--like lightning induced fires-- that have over eons of time helped create the areas we enjoy today.

Composting organic waste creates a marvelous byproduct well known to gardeners.  Think of fire as being an accelerated form of composting.  Initially, it makes a soot-blackened mess but, soon, very soon, fire, acting as a rapid mineralizing agent, produces natural fertilizer and new growth will appear to have spilled from the intense green of an artist's palette.

Long periods between fires also allow combustible material to build up thus creating the possibility of even more dangerous fires.

Firebreaks can be natural like a river or are man-created perimeter areas vacant of combustible material that contain the fires in their intended area like the one shown below.

Note the luscious green growth on the left of the firebreak while the acreage on the right appears ravished extending high in the background trees.  Within weeks with adequate rain the fire damage will escape notice except upon close examination.

Sue is following Greg and Leslie Cornet, our geocaching partners, as we worked our way to some caches in this huge area.  Turns out, a cache we were seeking, which was part of an event known as the Space Coast Geo Adventures Trail, had been destroyed by this very fire.

The cache also is likely to enjoy its own version of a regrowth soon.