If you see or smell smoke burning in the distance in Sarasota or Highlands County, it could be a #GoodFire.
The Florida Forest Service is conducting prescribed burns at Oscar Scherer State Park in Osprey and Highlands Hammock State Park today.
The controlled fires are meant to help wildlife by improving the habitats for threatened or endangered species. According to the U.S. Forest Service, the burns also help recycle nutrients back into the ground, which promotes new vegetation growth.
But most importantly, in parched Florida, it reduces the amount of kindling that fuels unchecked wildfires.
The FFS used the hashtag #GoodFire to promote the difference between their work versus what can be unleashed by a lightning strike or careless humans.
54 acre #Goodfire being conducted today on Oscar Scherer State Park. @scgovEOC , @FLStateParks pic.twitter.com/ABZTfs8iy9
— Patrick M. Mahoney (@FFS_Myakka) December 2, 2016
#HIghlandsCounty Highlands Hammock @FLStateParks conducting 25 acre #Goodfire to improve habitat for threatened wildlife species @TheNewsSun pic.twitter.com/UnRS9X3YXu
— FFS Okeechobee (@FFS_Okeechobee) December 2, 2016
