The Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration, the UCSB Fire Department, and the Santa Barbara County Fire Department will conduct a prescribed burn on UCSB’s Lagoon Island this week. The exact date has not been released.

The burn will be part of the ecological restoration of the area, CCBER natural area director Lisa Stratton said.

“The burn is part of a research effort to control non-native grasses and establish native coastal bluff scrub vegetation,” she said. “We will be conducting the burn during the low-occupancy week on campus, on the day with the least amount of fog, in order to get a hot enough burn to reduce the viability of the seed bank.”

It will mark the third year that UCSB has conducted the burn. Funding for the project is from the students of UCSB through the Coastal Fund, Stratton said.

UCSB officials have all of the necessary permits for the burn from the Coastal Commission and the Air Pollution Control District, and campus officials have conducted a fire safety meeting with Santa Barbara County fire officials.