There's been a brief discussion on the Pygmy Pine Plains on another post. I thought a new post would be best showing a few photos of an aftermath of a fire as the Pine Plains are dependent on fire for its survival. It appears the seeds from serotinous cones were able to germinate better in the turned up soil in a fire break than elsewhere. These photos were taken back in January 2013 before I became a member of this site. The area is just south of Bombing Range Road, west of RT 539, and east of Governors Branch. I'm not sure if this is a result of a forest fire or a control burn. I believe I read once though, that a fire from a control burn is not hot enough to open a serotinous cones.