Refining fire at AMBS

Annette Brill Bergstresser on April 11, 2024

Published: April 11, 2024

Burn managers from Heartland Restoration oversee the controlled burn of a section of native prairie on the southern edge of the AMBS campus. The Mennonite Church USA office building is visible in the background. (Credit: Abenezer Dejene/AMBS)

On April 10, AMBS held a controlled burn of three major prairie areas on the eastern and southern edges of campus. Employees of Heartland Restoration served as burn managers.

According to Orion Blaha, Assistant Director of Maintenance, burning the prairie serves two purposes: undesirable plants that are sensitive to fire are destroyed, and targeted native grasses and flowers have better access to nutrients and more room to flourish.

A burn manager from Heartland Restoration oversees the controlled burn of a section of native prairie on the AMBS campus. (Credit: Abenezer Dejene/AMBS)

The controlled burn is part of AMBS’s long-term plan to care for its native landscaping, Blaha noted. As an expression of the seminary’s commitment to care for God’s creation, 17 of the 44 acres on campus are not mowed, and six acres were restored to native prairie in the 2000s.

—AMBS release

View of the controlled burn to the north of the library. (Credit: Annette Brill Bergstresser/AMBS)
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