by Michele Reese
TYLER (KYTX) - An island in Lake Tyler is burning. Smoke could be seen for miles as foresters intentionally set fire to Langley Island. CBS 19's Michele Reese was out there as the burn operation started and has more on why they are doing it. For the last 5 decades, Langley Island has been home to more than a hundred species of birds. But, the habitat has slowly been growing out of control. The Audubon Society of East Texas is taking control back by restoring the land.
A sanctuary up in smoke...
"The burn is needed to take the underlayer."
It's the result of a prescribed burn by the Audubon Society.
"Through the years, the pine needles have fallen to the ground and their blanket four to five inches thick. Nothing can regenerate, we can't get grass to grow and trees will not grow."
Joe Marsey with the Audubon Society says 50 of the 70 acres on Langley Island were torched, in hopes of restoring the island back to a refuge for birds and wildlife. "It was part of a sanctuary created back in 1951."
Since its creation, Marsey says the island has transformed from a grassy area with walking trails to an overgrown forest of pines.
"It was a quite place to come. People would canoe out here."
The change has dropped the bird population from 150 species down to 100.
"Herons, egrets, a lot of woodpeckers, different types of wobblers, like pine wobblers, and I really like red headed wood peckers."
The largest mammals that reside here are the deer.
"They'll swim from the mainland."
He calls the island Tyler's gold mine. "It's difficult to get to, which makes it very special."
While the Audubon Society manages the island, the city of Tyler owns it. Tyler's public works director Greg Morgan wants not only wildlife, but people to return to the island.
"Open it back up, so it can be used by the public as was originally intended and a bird sanctuary."
A perfect spot for nesting that will offer respite for humans, too. Today's burn cost about $8,000 but it didn't cost the city or the Audubon Society a dime. The project was paid for with grants from Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The Audobon Society says in order to maintain the island, they will have to do a prescribed burn about every four years. The last one was done in 1995.
