This fall, Naperville for the first time is conducting controlled burns at sites with degraded native plants around town to help restore them to a healthy condition.
Controlled burning is planned at Old Plank Park, Country Commons Park, the Test Track on the south side of Jefferson Avenue and the Public Works Service Center on Fort Hill Drive.
Burns — depending on weather conditions — should be done in November or December, according to an Oct. 24 memo from Public Works Director Dick Dublinski to the Naperville City Council.
They are part of an inaugural native vegetation management program the city began developing in 2023.
In partnership with a consultant, staff started devising horticulture work by evaluating the five city-owned stormwater management areas with existing native vegetation. All five had degraded plant communities due to a lack of ecological management, Dublinksi said in his memo. A program was developed to restore the sites back to a healthy condition.
Christine Schwartzhoff, operations manager for the city, said that to her knowledge, the city “has not done controlled burns like this for at least a very, very long time.” It’s a more common practice for the DuPage and Will County forest preserve districts.
Initial maintenance and restoration for the program began this year. Work includes tree and shrub clearing, weed control, native plant and seed installation, and controlled burning. The city is taking a phased approach to the work.
Clearing and plantings are finished for this year, while weed control will be ongoing. The next steps are controlled burns and native seed installation.
Burns will be conducted by personnel from Woodridge-based V3 Construction.
Controlled burns are carefully planned and designed to mimic the natural role of fire on a landscape, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The timing for burns depends on outside temperature, humidity, wind, moisture of vegetation and conditions for the dispersal of smoke.
Prescribed burns are an essential practice for restoring and maintaining healthy natural areas, according to the Morton Arboretum in Lisle. Burns, for instance, help control weedy and invasive plants that compete with native plants.
Naperville residents adjacent to areas scheduled for burns will be notified by mail before the they take place. V3 Construction will work with residents who have medical issues exacerbated by smoke to ensure plans are made to accommodate them, per Dublinksi’s memo.
Residents near impacted areas who have signed up for the city’s Naper Notify mass alert system will be notified before burning takes place.
After this year, vegetation maintenance will continue annually, Schwartzhoff said.
“I know a lot of people think that you just plant these native grasses and things and then you walk away from them,” she said, “but that’s not how it works.”
