Mechanical mulching at Pinebrook Park to alleviate need for controlled burns

City of Venice

The Florida Forest Service will be performing wildfire mitigation work within the northern half of Pinebrook Park in Venice, beginning today, Tuesday, Jan. 19 and lasting for approximately 3 weeks. Residents are asked to avoid the northern portion of Pinebrook Park during this period. The work area is between Curry Creek and Water Street and is shown on the below location map.

Pinebrook Park is a natural, heavily wooded park located at 1251 Pinebrook Rd. This natural forest land must be properly managed to limit the potential for harmful wildfires that could impact the surrounding residential structures. Currently the park has an overabundance of thick undergrowth, which represents unsafe levels of vegetative fuel and creates a hazard to the surrounding communities. City of Venice Fire Rescue and the Public Works Department have been working with the Florida Forest Service to develop the most appropriate strategy to mitigate this hazard. The Forest Service strongly recommends that the undergrowth is mulched down mechanically, leaving the large trees intact and therefore reducing the vegetative fuel source.

The alternative options are to perform a controlled burn or to leave the area natural and allow it to burn naturally. Performing a controlled burn is not recommended due to the proximity of numerous residential structures and the large amount of vegetative undergrowth. A controlled burn would result in the loss of many mature trees, while the mulching would not impact these large and valuable trees. If the area is left natural, it will burn naturally from a lightning strike or other source that will result in major losses to the mature trees and potentially damage the adjacent residential structures. The mechanical mulching is the most appropriate option to mitigate this existing wildfire hazard.

A survey of the existing gopher tortoise borrows has been performed to locate and mark any burrows, and they will be avoided during the mulching activity. Additional work on the south side of the creek is also needed and will be coordinated as a future phase.