ST. LUCIE COUNTY – Bluefield Ranch Preserve will be closed Monday, Aug. 10 through Monday, Aug. 17 as St. Lucie County’s Environmental Resources staff conducts prescribed burns to that preserve and the nearby Cypress Creek Preserve, which is not yet open to the public.

Weather permitting, St. Lucie County’s Environmental Resources Department staff plans to burn roughly 200 acres inside the Bluefield Ranch Preserve and 100 acres inside the Cypress Creek Preserve. Bluefield Ranch Preserve is slated to reopen to the public Tuesday, Aug. 18.

Prescribed burns improve habitat and decrease the risk of wildfires within the preserve. Prescribed fire mimics natural fire cycles needed in Florida to restore healthy forests and ecosystems. Lands where prescribed fires are administered experience an increase in native wildflowers, birds and other wildlife.

St. Lucie County’s Environmental Resources Department manages roughly 12,000 acres that are open to the public for passive recreation. These preserves were purchased thanks to a voter-approved referendum in 1994, which provided the county with a $20 million bond that was matched with private and public grants, allowing the county to purchase $76 million worth of land for preservation.

For more information about the county's preserves, please contact the St. Lucie County Environmental Resources Department at 772-462-2526 or visit the Preserves of St. Lucie County site.