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The weather in our area is unpredictable, and with little rain or snow this year, the possibility of landowners wanting to clean up their land by burning is not really an option with the state already having its share of wildfires, such as the one by Brokenbow in March. In the last few weeks, people have been wondering why some burning is getting done in Holt County, with the area being tagged as dangerous and high fire danger. The burns in the area are being carried out by Prescribed Burn Association. Pheasants Forever helped form local Prescribed Burn Association (PBA) throughout Nebraska to help overcome the three recurring limitations: adequate knowledge, equipment, and assistance for prescribed burning. Burn association members must attend a basic burn workshop and participate in at least 1-2 burns each year. While private landowners often request assistance in completing CRP management burns, prescribed burn associations are not a work-for-hire operation. Rather, their success relies on a neighbor-helping-neighbor model. Using grant money from the Nebraska Environmental Trust, Pheasants Forever developed mobile prescribed burn units for every burn association, complete with $28,000 worth of burn equipment. The units have basically everything you would need for a safe and effective prescribed burn in a grassland environment: drip torches, skid sprayers, hand tools, radios, protective clothing, etc. The PBA also has to submit its plan to the local fire chief, who, depending on weather conditions, can deny the permit. In most instances, some of the local fire departments will help in the process by providing some resources such as a fire fighting rig and a small number of firemen. Controlled burning in early spring accomplishes three main objectives in habitat management. First, burning limits the growth of woody vegetation, which helps maintain the prairie as a distinct ecosystem. Second, the fire burns off the duff layer of built-up plant matter that hasn't fully decayed over the last few years. Third, prescribed burning releases the nutrients bound in the plant litter, stimulating vigorous new growth, which is more attractive nesting covers for ground-nesting birds. Burns can be very dangerous if not done properly. Grasses produce extremely hot fires and can spread rapidly. Pheasants Forever's habitat specialists and chapter volunteer burn crews are trained to complete safe and effective prescribed burns in many pheasant range states. Prescribed fire can be an essential tool in the mid-contract management of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands, as well as on state and federally managed wildlife lands. Pheasant Forever is always seeking new contacts to help grow the prescribed fire community in Nebraska. For more information, contact Prescribed Fire Coordinator Brian Teeter at bteeter@pheasantsforever.org or (402) 219-2572. People often ask, “When is the best time to burn?” The answer depends on land management goals and objectives. In other words, why are you burning and what are you trying to accomplish with prescribed fire? A typical scenario is burning a grassland CRP field to satisfy mid-contract management requirements. That's a reasonable short-term objective, but it lacks clarifying details. In the NRCS Conservation Planning process, objectives are described as desired future conditions, which are defined in quantitative and/or qualitative terms as the ecological, economic, and social conditions we want to reach, at some point in the future. For example, a short-term objective may be to remove 90% of the accumulated dead-standing vegetation and ground thatch so that there is adequate bare ground to successfully interseed legumes. Use before-and-after photos, seeding evaluations, and other methods to help evaluate whether prescribed burning met the desired objectives. All burn plans must include the land-management objective to be accomplished and the types and conditions of the vegetative matter to be burned on the land and in adjacent areas. For reference, the Prescribed Burning Design Procedures include different burn plan designs, such as burning for eastern redcedar control.
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| Tags | Firefighters |
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