TRANSCRIPT:
Hello this is Dr. Tom Mullikin with SCDNR for Into the Wild.
A blackened forest floor can look damaged at first glance. But when the fire was carefully planned and controlled, that dark ground may be the beginning of renewal.
Prescribed burns are conducted under specific conditions, with trained crews watching wind, humidity, fuel moisture, and smoke movement. The fire reduces built-up leaves and branches, holds back thick woody growth, and opens sunlight to native grasses and wildflowers.
Within days or weeks, green shoots may begin pushing through the ash. Fire is not appropriate everywhere, and it must be used with care. But in many South Carolina pine ecosystems, the choice is not simply between fire and no fire. It is between a planned, lower-intensity burn and the growing risk of an uncontrolled one.