A section of Irvine Prairie undergoes a prescribed burn on Sunday, April 6. The 292-acre prairie-in-progress is located roughly five miles north of Dysart as the crow flies. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

DYSART – Staff, students, and volunteers with UNI’s Tallgrass Prairie Center (TPC) conducted a successful spring burn at Irvine Prairie northeast of Dysart in rural Benton County on Sunday, April 6, with ignition beginning just after 1:30 p.m.

According to Mallory Sage, TPC community engagement coordinator, about two dozen people assisted with the burn, while landowner Cathy Irvine and several of her friends gathered nearby to watch fire provide renewal to the prairie-in-progress.

“It was a textbook burn as west/northwest winds stabilized in that early part of the afternoon,” Sage told the newspaper in a follow-up email. “We burned the section on the east side to the waterway as the first unit. That section was planted in 2022.”

The crew then moved on to burn the rest of the prairie on the south side of 55th Street.

“Since the east side was burned, the second unit started with flanking fires on the north and south sides. Again, once good black [burned prairie] developed, [burn boss] Justin [Meissen] was able to light the head fire along the western edge to close off that unit. It was huge, loud and extremely hot.”

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Roughly 80 acres of the preserve’s total 292 acres were burned, Sage said, with the annual task wrapped up by 7 p.m. that evening.

Ahead of the burn, those in attendance held a briefing and enjoyed a delicious lunch provided by Dysart’s KE Black Mercantile.

“We are very thankful for their continued support even on days when they are closed,” Sage said of KE Black’s staff including owner and chef Kathy Bonewitz who delivered the meal herself Sunday afternoon.

The Irvine Prairie, located at 1174 55th Street, Dysart, is open to the public daily from sunrise to sunset. Visitors are asked to park on the south side of the road in the grass, near the stone marker. A portable bathroom facility is available from April through October. For more information visit https://tallgrassprairiecenter.org/irvine-prairie#visitorpolicy.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO