It's all about the acorns.

At 11:01 Friday morning, crews from the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Bureau of Forestry and The Nature Conservancy started a small fire at State Gamelands 227 in Rush Township.Burn Boss, Pat McElhenny, of the Nature Conservancy, watched the test fire and decided that conditions were adequate for a prescribed burn of 70 acres on the 1,543-acre tract. Friday's prescribed burn is an effort to revitalize the oak tree population in 70-acre section of the White Oaks Gamelands.Core tests done on oak trees in the area revealed that the majority are roughly 90 years old."While oak trees can grow past 100 years, like people, as they age they tend degenerate," said David Henry, a forester for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. "We're thinking ahead and trying to ensure oaks are still here years from now."The reason oak trees are so important to the area is their seeds, or acorns. Acorns are high in nutritional value and are consumed by much of the wildlife in the area.Other plant species, such as maple and birch trees, as well as blueberry and huckleberry shrubs are blocking sunlight from the forest floor. That, combined with a thick layer of leaves makes it difficult for acorns to establish root systems for future oaks.Oak trees grow slower than the rival trees in the area, and an 8- to 10-year-old oak sapling can be dwarfed by a birch or maple in three to four years. However, because of the strong root system of the oaks, they will bounce back from the burn, while the birch and maples will not.Even the wildlife in the area will not be affected by the burn for long."The wildlife will move from the area while the burn is going, but it will come right back," Henry said Friday. "We will see turkeys feeding here tomorrow."While the weather conditions weren't ideal for the burn, with the temperature a little low, humidity a little high and some cloud cover, Henry expected the burn to be completed in less than three hours.