The USAO Habitat is hosting a service day Saturday, Feb. 1 that will look at preparing roughly 50 acres of land for a prescribed burn in late February or early March. This prescribed burn will look to remove an invasive species called African Weeping Low Grass.
Dr. Jason Shaw, Professor of Biology, has arranged this project to run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. He will provide food and water for those that help him with this project. The service day will have all participants cutting down trees and clearing out the land in preparation for the prescribed burn. For the burn to happen, there cannot be any standing trees within 150 feet of where the burn will occur.
Shaw has already begun working on this project, spending his afternoons cutting down trees. He has been unable to do more though and is reaching out to USAO’s student body for more assistance.
“If people aren’t able to be there for very long or if somebody just wants to come out and help for an hour, that’s fine,” he said.
Shaw also suggested for those who wish to help him with the service day to wear proper attire. For example, shorts and skirts, open-toed shoes, sweatpants, yoga leggings, and other similar items are not advised to be worn in this environment. Safety equipment such as protective eyewear, gloves, and similar items are recommended for this event.
The USAO Habitat area consists of 140 acres located west of the university just outside of Chickasha. The habitat is a recreational area for students to use as a classroom and for their studies.
The land of the habitat was deeded to USAO in 1909 and was the original location for the university to have been built. However, the governor of Oklahoma, Charles N. Haskell, at the time, saw the land was not fit for the college to be placed, as it was deemed too far from city limits. While USAO kept the land, they used it as farmland for cattle for over 100 years.
USAO eventually converted it to an outdoor classroom in 2011 by getting rid of the cattle. In 2015, plans were made to make Jean McLaughlin Outdoor Education & Research Center (JMOERC). Four years later, the JMOERC project was completed.
Those who are interested in signing up for this project or have questions about the event can email Dr. Shaw at jshaw@usao.edu.
The USAO habitat is located at 701 1360 County Road, Chickasha, OK 73018.
Cassie Srock is a second-year communication major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
