Controlled Burn Training Partnership

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2011

In 1994, the voters of St. Lucie County overwhelmingly approved a referendum for the county to secure a $20 million bond to purchase environmentally significant lands. The mission of the program is to preserve, protect, and restore eco-systems in their natural state while simultaneously providing compatible public use. Since that time, the county has purchased more than 7,000 acres for passive recreation such as hiking, biking, horseback riding, and wildlife watching. The county’s Environmental Resources Department has managed and maintained these acres, which are divided into 24 different preserves with more than 42 miles of trails. Due to a decline in property values, St. Lucie County has experienced a decrease in general fund revenues and staff in recent years. Since 2009, St. Lucie County government’s overall staffing level has decreased by 33 percent. Budgets and staffing levels are in line with those budgets from 2001 – nearly a decade ago. However, the amount of environmental lands that have to be managed today compared to 2001 has increased by 25 percent. In an effort to better manage these environmental preserves and maximize resources, St. Lucie County recently partnered with the Florida Division of forestry and Indian River State College’s Public Safety Training Complex to create a program for implementing controlled burns on the county’s nature preserves. Positive results of the slash and burn treatments are visible in cost savings for the county, the transformation of preserve lands from charred landscapes into lush green preserves, and the presence of endangered and threatened species foraging in and around the burn areas.