
Smoke on the horizon means the prairie is being cared for.
Don’t worry. It’s April, so those massive columns of smoke rising up over the Flint Hills’ horizon are perfectly normal. And if it smells a little smokey here in eastern Kansas this time of year, that’s a good thing.
In the springtime Flint Hills, where there is smoke there is fire. In many parts of the country, fire is considered a bad thing. Wildfires in California and forest fires in the Northwest make national news, and not in a good way. Many people consider fire, because of its destructive nature, a threat to the environment. Visitors who are unfamiliar with the Kansas tallgrass prairie often become concerned when they witness a grass fire sweeping across a pasture. Recently, I met a traveler who had just arrived to the Flint Hills on an evening flight and had witnessed some pastures burning in the dark. “Somebody had better call that in, that’s dangerous,” was the traveler’s remark.
When homes are endangered and forests destroyed, fire is a bad thing. In the tallgrass prairie, however, fires of controlled burns are not only a good thing, they are an absolute necessity.
Continue reading →