A crew of workers monitored the edges of a controlled burn at Victory Park in Marshall on Wednesday afternoon. Sprays of water from vehicles helped keep the flames under control. After the burn, about 15 acres of open ground will be planted in pollinator-friendly native plants.

MARSHALL — A tall column of smoke was rising above Victory Park (Wayside Rest) in Marshall on Wednesday afternoon, but there wasn’t an emergency. A controlled burn was being done on about 15 acres of open land at the park. It was part of the preparations for planting a mix of pollinator-friendly native plants at the site, said Marshall Parks and Recreation superintendent Preston Stensrud.

On Wednesday, both Victory Park and a four-acre area north of the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University underwent controlled burns, and seeding of new plants. It was all part of a grant project for Marshall and the Lyon County Soil and Water Conservation District to help create habitat for pollinators like bees and butterflies.

Last summer, the city of Marshall and the Lyon County SWCD were awarded $28,725 form the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources’ Habitat Enhancement Landscape Pilot (HELP) program. A consulting firm, Stantec, has organized the prep work for the new pollinator plots, said Marshall City Administrator Sharon Hanson.

On Wednesday, crews from Stantec worked to hold controlled burns of existing vegetation at both pollinator plot sites. At Victory Park, crew members with drip torches started lines of flames at the edges of the burn area. As the fire grew, vehicles with water sprayers worked to keep it under control and moving away from the perimeter of the burn area.

Stensrud said the burn had been rescheduled a couple of times this spring, because it needed conditions like humidity and wind direction to be right.

Later on Wednesday, the crew came back to seed the two plots with a mix of native grasses and plants that bloom in different seasons of the year.

The pollinator project would enhance the mix of native plant species growing in the 15-acre plot at Victory Park, said Stensrud and Lyon County SWCD conservation technician Blake Giles. The seeding on the plot north of SMSU would replace the non-native that had been growing there before, they said.

Giles said the pollinator plots will still have some maintenance, like occasional mowing, as the new plants get established.