Employees of Jennings Environmental Center, Keystone State Park and other departments conduct the annual controlled burn of the prairie Monday. According to the Jennings website, the controlled burn is used to slow the growth of woody plants and rejuvenate the native grasses and wildflowers.

Park personnel formed a line, marched onto and burned the prairie Monday at Jennings Environmental Education Center.

“It's a management technique to stimulate the growth of the prairie flowers that people come to see,” said Jennings park manager Wil Taylor. “It also reduces the amount of competition we see from trees, shrubs and invasive plants.”

According to Taylor, staff from Jennings and other parks used a controlled burn on seven of 20 acres of natural prairie.

The local prairie is the only protected one of its kind in the state.

This is an excerpt from a larger article that appears in Tuesday's Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.

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