POPPY PARK FIRED UP FOR FLOWERS.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Daily News Staff Writer State park officials hope fires in the fall mean poppies in the spring. Lugging torches filled with diesel fuel across dry brown hillsides, state and National Park Service firefighters assisted by prison camp crews burned off 54 acres Wednesday at the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve is a California wildlife reserve located in the rural westside of the Antelope Valley in northern Los Angeles County. Constitutionally, it is a state park. Its namesake is the state flower, the California Poppy. . The ``prescribed burn,'' as fire officials term the practice of deliberately setting fires to control the growth of vegetation, was part of a 2-1/2-year-old effort to thin out invading foreign plants and to produce more poppies and other native wildflowers. ``Fire is a natural feature of the grasslands and acts as a benefit by removing older growth, adding nutrients to the ground and reducing competition with the fast-growing exotic species,'' said John Crossman, resource ecologist with the state Parks Department's Mojave Desert Mojave or Mohave Desert, c.15,000 sq mi (38,850 sq km), region of low, barren mountains and flat valleys, 2,000 to 5,000 ft (610–1,524 m) high, S Calif.; part of the Great Basin of the United States. Sector. Tumbleweeds, cheat grass and other invaders were burned at the 1,800-acre reserve to clear the ground for wildflowers and native bunch grasses that grow less vigorously than exotic species brought in by man and his animals. The prescribed burn was the fourth at the reserve since 1994. ``We aren't certain (the burns) are producing more poppies, but they are certainly making them more visible after a burn,'' said Mary Lou MacKenzie, a park interpretive specialist. Scientists have determined that certain types of vegetation need a burn cycle to rejuvenate re·ju·ve·nate tr.v. re·ju·ve·nat·ed, re·ju·ve·nat·ing, re·ju·ve·nates 1. To restore to youthful vigor or appearance; make young again. 2. themselves. For more than a decade, areas intentionally have been burned periodically in some national parks This is a list of national parks ordered by nation. Africa
The burns Wednesday blackened black·en v. black·ened, black·en·ing, black·ens v.tr. 1. To make black. 2. To sully or defame: a scandal that blackened the mayor's name. 3. the soil below Godde Hill, a rounded butte Butte, city, United States Butte (by  t), city (1990 pop. 33,336), seat of Silver Bow co., SW Mont.; inc. 1879. It is a trade, ranching, and industrial center. southwest of the visitors center, and to the west of the main
entry road.
Park officials previously burned off about 117 acres on the reserve 10 miles west of Lancaster. An additional 80 acres burned on the butte behind the visitors center in an August wildfire sparked by a lightning storm. ``It was good for us,'' MacKenzie said of the lightning fire. ``It took the huge draws filled with tumbleweeds we haven't been able to get to.'' Park officials expect the latest burn to be nearly unnoticeable by wildflower wildflower Any flowering plant that grows without intentional human aid. Wildflowers are the source of all cultivated garden varieties of flowers. A wildflower growing where it is unwanted is considered a weed. season next spring. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--color) State park rangers watch a fire set to clear out plants invading territory of California poppies California poppy: see poppy. California poppy Annual garden plant (Eschscholzia californica) in the poppy family, native to the western coast of North America and naturalized in parts of southern Europe, Asia, and Australia. and other native flowers near Lancaster. (2--color) About 54 acres blackened Wednesday will be blooming with wildflowers by spring, park officials say. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
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