UPDATE: Riverside Natural Area to undergo controlled fire maintenance

The scheduled burn at the Riverside Natural Area has been postponed due to the uncooperative weather.

"We are watching the weather for good conditions to begin the burn process," said a post on the group's Facebook page. "First will be a couple of very small test burns to see how quickly the flame spread rate is going to be for the amount of duff that has been building up over the last few years. Once those tests are done we will proceed or break the plots up into even smaller plots to better control the burn process and thereby have a better burn off."

The plan is to first do two test burns of about 1/4 of an acre each.

ORIGINAL POST

On December 1, the Hamilton Conservation Corps will begin a controlled burn on 60 of the 200 acres of the Riverside Natural Area, as weather conditions allow.

The prairie grasses need the fire to germinate and it will destroy some of the unwanted weeds that have taken over some of the area.

According to the Corps's Troy Schwable, the burns will be conducted so that any wildlife will have easy opportunities and plenty of space to escape.

There will be a series of test burns and then the controlled burns will be sectionalized to maintain as much control as possible.

Trail maps in hard copy form and pdf should soon be available along with trail markers to help navigate the 5 and 1/2 miles through this wonderful preserve.

If you would like to volunteer to help keep this natural area in a pristine condition for all of our residents to enjoy, please contact the City of Hamilton Volunteer Office & Karen Widmer at 513-844-8050. ask about the Hamilton Conservation Corps and the Riverside Natural Area.