Paquette Lake prescribed fire

This photo shows the regeneration that started happening one month after the prescribed fire.

On July 14-15, 2017, Parks Canada, in collaboration with the province of Nova Scotia’s Department of Natural Resources, conducted a prescribed fire at Paquette Lake in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. This was the second phase of a prescribed fire conducted at this location in 2014.

This fire was set up as a research experiment in an effort to learn more about fire behaviour in shrubs. The experimental burn site consisted of 15 blocks of 20 metres by 20 metres that were burned under various weather conditions in order to document how fast and how intense fire would spread in this type of vegetation. The results from this study will lead to safer and more effective fire control in case of wildfire in this type of vegetation, which covers 12% of Cape Breton Highlands National Park and 6% of Nova Scotia. Parks Canada will also monitor the regeneration in this area to better understand the role of fire in sustaining this ecosystem. The photo to the right shows the regeneration that started happening one month after the prescribed fire.

Interested in knowing more about prescribed burning?

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