We know what’s going on at the park right now. Crews are conducting a prescribed burn at the Arboretum.

HOUSTON — Smoke has been billowing from the Memorial Park area on Wednesday, and a lot of people are wondering what’s going on.

The Houston Arboretum and Nature Center and the Houston Fire Department are conducting a prescribed burn in the woodland habitat on the southeast corner of the Arboretum. They have done them in the past:

The controlled fire began around 10 a.m. and is expected to be over by 4 p.m. They said the burn was dependent on the weather, but apparently, the conditions made it possible to move forward.

“The area where the Arboretum now stands once experienced fire every 1-3 years, thanks to dry summer grasses and lightning strikes. Frequent, low-intensity fires would clear shrubs, trees, and dead vegetation, making space for grasses and wildflowers and providing a boost of nutrients in the soil. Suppressing natural fire has allowed unnaturally dense vegetation to cover the Arboretum and has increased the risk of dangerous, high-intensity fires by allowing dead plant material to accumulate,” the Arboretum said on its website.

There have been five controlled burns in the history of the Arboretum: 1999, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Read more about them here.

Here’s more about what they said about the burn:

“Long-term use of prescribed fires will help the Arboretum maintain its historic ecosystems, which will in turn increase biodiversity and provide environmental education opportunities. Past burns have been conducted to preserve the Gulf Coast prairie and savanna, both endangered ecosystems that are essential for native wildlife. Healthy grasslands, like those found within past prescribed fire areas, are better able to absorb and filter flood waters during flood events. Grassland birds, like quail and northern harrier hawks, need fire to maintain open habitat for nesting and feeding. This will be the first prescribed fire of a woodland area within the City of Houston. In addition to reducing the fuel load and risk of uncontrolled wildfires in this area, the prescribed fire will also help return nutrients to the soil and reduce invasive species and understory competition for young trees.”

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