Travis County Parks plans to conduct a prescribed burn at East Metropolitan Park on March 6, 2020. The prescribed burn will occur between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and will take approximately three to six hours to complete.
Travis County Parks is conducting the prescribed burn in cooperation with personnel from the local fire departments and natural resource agencies.
The prescribed burn is intended to reduce wildfire danger and improve ecosystem health by removing invading shrubs, consuming dead and downed vegetation, reducing the number of exotic species, and enhancing the health and diversity of the native plant community.
The prescribed burn will be implemented north to northeast winds which will carry smoke across the park and toward Taylor Lane. A significant portion of the prescribed burn area will not burn under the expected conditions. However, one of the objectives of the prescribed burn is to reduce heavy fuel accumulations and we will be constructing piles to meet this objective. This will increase the amount of smoke produced during the prescribed burn and make smoke impacts more likely. Smoke could be present for much of the day but it is expected to be relatively light.
The park will remain open during the prescribed burn however; some portions of the park will be closed. We anticipate closing all or part of the southern portion of the park, which will affect access to the soccer fields, the disc golf course, and portions of the paved trail. Other areas within the park that are not closed may be impacted by smoke from the prescribed burn. Closures may extend into the weekend in some locations.
East Metropolitan Park is located at 18706 Blake Manor Road, Manor, TX 78653.
Media note: The Park will remain open. There may be a PIO or staff available for interviews. Please call the Park Supervisor(contact listed above) for more information.
- Hector Nieto, Travis County PIO, 956-251-2902
- Glen Gillman, Park Land Manager, 512-844-7480
- Tanya Thornhill, Park Supervisor, 512-753-2868
