Fire: A Healthy Burn

Okeeheelee Nature Center, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County


fire-charred trees
More charred trees at Okeeheelee and a final word or two on fire: We humans have been taught all our lives that fire is a bad thing. It can be absolutely devastating. On the other hand, the cabbage palms, the slash pines, the understory shrubs that grow in Okeeheelee Nature Preserve and other natural places in Florida have evolved in a way that allows them to withstand regular, minor fires, and in some cases, thrive in their aftermath. Those regular fires also prevent the massive, high intensity fires that could destroy these woods.

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Published by Wild South Florida, PO Box 7241, Delray Beach, FL 33482.
Photographs by David Sedore. Photographs are property of the publishers and may not be used without permission.