Prescribed fire to take place at Rye Preserve in Parrish

PARRISH -- For the second time in amonth, a prescribed fire will take place at Rye Preserve on Thursday.

Manatee County is expected to burn eight acres of scrub at the preserve, 905 Rye Wildnerness Trail, Parrish. Rye Preserve is a 145-acre preserve on the Manatee River northwest of the Lake Manatee Dam.

"This follows up on some chainsawing and mechanical vegetation reduction we did as part of the Gopher Tortoise Habitat Assistance Program (FWC) and will help remove downed oaks and limbs and increase forage areas for tortoises," according to an email from the county.

With Northeast winds expected Thursday, no smoke impacts to neighbors are expected, according to the email.

The county's land managers burned a prescribed fire at the preserve on Jan. 20, as well. That fire was intended to help remove fuel build up and help fire dependent plants sprout, according to a post on the Manatee County Natural Resources Department Facebook page in January.

Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter@Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 9:29 AM with the headline "Prescribed fire to take place at Rye Preserve in Parrish ."