How Prairie Fires Restore Water to Soil & Why Prairies Need to Burn

In this hour-long interview, Gerry Wilhelm, one of the 2 authors of the massive tome *Flora of the Chicago Region*, gives us insight into how fire is essential to prairie ecosystems - and many ecosystems around the globe. Gerry sets his suburban Chicago backyard on fire every fall after first frost, and when I asked him why he does it, his answer surprised me. This conversation ended up getting a lot more philosophical then I anticipated, and the wisdom Gerry shares with us is valuable. We would be wise to listen to it, so that we know how to manage the land that we live on, as well as reduce the effects of heat and flooding. The native plants can show us the way. ------------------------ Your contributions support this content. It sounds cliché but it's true. Whether it's travel expenses, vehicle repair, or medical costs for urushiol poisoning (or rockfalls, bee-stings, hand slices, toxic sap, etc), your financial support allows this content to continue so the beauty of Earth's flora can be made accessible to the public, accompanied by a small dose of profanity and crude humor. At a time when so much is disappearing beneath the human footprint, CPBBD is willing to do whatever it takes to document these plant species and the ecological communities they are a part of before they're gone for good. Plants make people feel good. Plants quell homicidal (and suicidal!) thoughts. To support Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't, consider donating a few bucks to the venmo account "societyishell" or the PayPal account email [email protected]... Or consider becoming a patreon supporter @ :   / crimepaysbutbotanydoesnt   Buy some CPBBD merch (shirts, hats, hoodies n' what the shit) available for sale at : https://www.bonfire.com/store/crime-p... To purchase stickers, venmo 20 bucks to "societyishell" and leave your address in the comments. Plants ID questions or reading list suggestions can be sent to [email protected] Thanks, GFY.