The Missus and I were out in search of pictures when we saw an ominous smoke cloud coming from the southern edge of the Sandbridge section of Virginia Beach. As we got closer we realized that it was - alarmingly - coming from inside Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge, where we were headed.
As we entered the park we saw a sign saying that this was a "prescribed burn" by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees the National Wildlife Refuges. (Prescribed fire is a management tool which assists with land management. Controlled burns can set back ecological succession, open the ground so seeds can germinate and can remove undesired vegetation.) We were quite relieved.
But we were also curious: What kind of physician has the authority to prescribe fire?
