Parts of Forest Park will undergo controlled burns today as part of a healthy habitat program by the nonprofit Forest Park Forever.

"Conducting a controlled burn promotes native species with deep, established root systems and fights off exotic species with shallow root systems," Forest Park Forever spokeswoman Katy Peace said in an email. "This process is also time and cost effective as compared to other means of managing some of these natural systems."

The burns will take place today between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. on as many as four areas in the park, including the John F. Kennedy Memorial Forest; the Picnic Island Buffer; the Deer Lake Savanna; and the prairie north of Steinberg Skating Rink.

Peace said its possible planned burns could be called off depending on weather and ground conditions. A fifth area, Hidden Creek Savanna, was removed from the list of planned burns today.

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